National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA.
Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Sep;120(9):1238-42. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1204939. Epub 2012 May 29.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working toward gaining a better understanding of the human health impacts of exposure to complex air pollutant mixtures and the key features that drive the toxicity of these mixtures, which can then be used for future scientific and risk assessments.
A public workshop was held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 22-24 February 2011, to discuss scientific issues and data gaps related to adopting multipollutant science and risk assessment approaches, with a particular focus on the criteria air pollutants. Expert panelists in the fields of epidemiology, toxicology, and atmospheric and exposure sciences led open discussions to encourage workshop participants to think broadly about available and emerging scientific evidence related to multipollutant approaches to evaluating the health effects of air pollution.
Although there is clearly a need for novel research and analytical approaches to better characterize the health effects of multipollutant exposures, much progress can be made by using existing scientific information and statistical methods to evaluate the effects of single pollutants in a multipollutant context. This work will have a direct impact on the development of a multipollutant science assessment and a conceptual framework for conducting multipollutant risk assessments.
Transitioning to a multipollutant paradigm can be aided through the adoption of a framework for multipollutant science and risk assessment that encompasses well-studied and ubiquitous air pollutants. Successfully advancing methods for conducting these assessments will require collaborative and parallel efforts between the scientific and environmental regulatory and policy communities.
美国环境保护署（EPA）正致力于深入了解接触复杂空气污染物混合物对人类健康的影响，以及导致这些混合物具有毒性的关键特性，从而将其用于未来的科学和风险评估。
2011 年 2 月 22 日至 24 日，在美国北卡罗来纳州查珀尔希尔市举行了一次公开研讨会，讨论与采用多污染物科学和风险评估方法相关的科学问题和数据差距，重点是关注空气污染物标准。流行病学、毒理学和大气及暴露科学领域的专家小组成员主持了公开讨论，以鼓励研讨会参与者广泛思考与多污染物方法评估空气污染对健康影响相关的现有和新兴科学证据。
虽然显然需要新的研究和分析方法来更好地描述多污染物暴露的健康影响，但通过使用现有科学信息和统计方法来评估多污染物背景下单一污染物的影响，可以取得很大进展。这项工作将直接影响多污染物科学评估和进行多污染物风险评估的概念框架的制定。
通过采用包含研究充分且普遍存在的空气污染物的多污染物科学和风险评估框架，可以促进向多污染物范式的转变。成功推进这些评估方法需要科学和环境监管及政策界之间的协作和并行努力。
