Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA.
Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Aug;118(8):1081-90. doi: 10.1289/ehp.0901634. Epub 2010 Mar 22.
The study of human exposure to environmental toxicants has evolved as a scientific field over the past 30 years.
This review provides a historical perspective on the growth of exposure science as a field, with some emphasis on the results from initial observational studies in obtaining information needed for generating hypotheses on significant human contact with environmental agents, testing the performance of models, and reducing exposures to protect public health.
Advances in activity pattern and behavioral research that established a suite of variables needed to accurately define contact and factors that influence contact are also discussed. The identification and characterization of these factors have played a pivotal role in the growth of the field and in developing exposure reduction strategies. Answers to two key questions on the relevance and fundamental value of exposure science to the fields of environmental health and risk management are presented as a path forward: a) What does one do with such exposure information? b) What roles does exposure science play in situations beyond observational analyses and interpretation?
The discussion identifies the need for more focused use of observational studies of exposure for epidemiologic analyses. Further, the introduction and use of new tools and approaches for hypothesis testing that can improve the use of exposure science in prevention research for risk management is needed to affect the source-to-effect continuum. A major restructuring of the field is not required to achieve innovation. However, additional resources for training and education are required to ensure that the potential for exposure science to play a central role in reducing and preventing excess risk within environmental/occupational health is achieved.
在过去的 30 年中，人类暴露于环境毒物的研究已经发展成为一个科学领域。
本文回顾了暴露科学作为一个领域的发展历程，重点介绍了初始观察性研究在获取与人类接触环境因子相关信息、检验模型性能以及减少暴露以保护公众健康方面的假设方面的成果。
本文还讨论了活动模式和行为研究的进展，这些研究建立了一整套需要准确定义接触的变量和影响接触的因素。这些因素的识别和特征描述在该领域的发展和暴露减少策略的制定中发挥了关键作用。针对暴露科学对环境健康和风险管理领域的相关性和基本价值这两个关键问题，提出了以下前进方向：a）如何利用这些暴露信息？b）在观察性分析和解释之外的情况下，暴露科学扮演什么角色？
本文讨论了需要更集中地利用暴露观察研究进行流行病学分析。此外，需要引入和使用新的工具和方法来进行假设检验，以改善暴露科学在风险管理预防研究中的应用，从而影响从源到效应的连续体。不需要对该领域进行重大重组即可实现创新。然而，需要额外的培训和教育资源，以确保暴露科学在减少和预防环境/职业健康中过度风险方面发挥核心作用。
