Hicks H E, Spengler R F
Division of Toxicology, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA.
Toxicol Ind Health. 1996 May-Aug;12(3-4):467-76. doi: 10.1177/074823379601200318.
Epidemiological studies of exposed human populations can provide valuable evidence of human health effects. Information has been sparse on human health effects associated with consumption of contaminated Great Lakes fish. As part of its Great Lakes Human Health Effects Research Program, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has funded ten projects. Of these studies, eight are epidemiologic investigations of human exposure and potential health effects from consumption of contaminated fish. To strengthen and to enhance the findings and comparability across the health studies, ATSDR has initiated several activities. These activities include harmonizing questionnaires, analytical protocols, human health end points, and contaminants tested. Also included is the establishment of a quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program and tissue bank. These activities will allow ATSDR to enhance exposure assessment in the Great Lakes basin. In addition, these research activities allow ATSDR to evaluate and to interpret data across all the projects, including a basin-wide health risk analysis on exposure, levels of contaminants or body burden, and the potential for human health effects from exposure to Great Lakes contaminants.
对接触人群的流行病学研究可为人类健康影响提供有价值的证据。关于食用受污染的五大湖鱼类对人类健康影响的信息一直很少。作为其五大湖人类健康影响研究计划的一部分，有毒物质和疾病登记署（ATSDR）资助了10个项目。在这些研究中，有8项是关于人类接触受污染鱼类及其潜在健康影响的流行病学调查。为了加强和提高各项健康研究的结果及可比性，ATSDR开展了多项活动。这些活动包括统一调查问卷、分析方案、人类健康终点指标以及所检测的污染物。此外还包括建立质量保证和质量控制（QA/QC）计划及组织库。这些活动将使ATSDR能够加强五大湖流域的接触评估。此外，这些研究活动使ATSDR能够评估和解读所有项目的数据，包括全流域范围内关于接触、污染物水平或体内负荷以及接触五大湖污染物对人类健康潜在影响的健康风险分析。
