Nonlinearities in concentration x time relationships: Implications for risk assessors

Health agencies often are charged with assessing and addressing the public health consequences of pollution exposure. Limitations in toxicological and exposure data lead to various extrapolations from animal studies to humans and from one exposure scenario to another. 'Haber's Law' is implicit in some extrapolations; it assumes all equal products of concentration and time produce an equal toxic response. Studies in animals and human clinical settings illustrate that this 'law' is not always true, particularly for short exposure durations. These results have significant implications for how exposure standards are established and for collection of exposure and toxicological data.

Duke Scholars

Author John Vandenberg Environmental Natural Science