Risk assessment of exposure to indoor air pollutants

Abstract

Risk assessment of exposure to indoor air pollutants should be a consideration not simply of airborne concentration, but of individual or population dose. Dose, the uptake and retention of the substance, may be affected by the physical and chemical form of the pollutant, its local environment, and physiological factors. Facilities for controlled exposures to quantify these effects in animals and humans will be described with particular reference to the dosimetry of radon gas and its progeny, and environmental tobacco smoke. The use of radioactive and stable isotope tracers in such studies will also be discussed.