Setting environmental exposure standards: Current concepts and controversies

Abstract

In the 1990s there will be a heightened emphasis on controlling environmental health hazards. This paper examines the nature and role of environmental standards. The process of setting exposure limits (i.e. standards) is discussed, with particular reference to quantitative risk assessment and to the complex scientific‐social‐political process of deciding on ‘acceptable’ levels of risk. The need for closer integration between epidemiology and toxicology is explored, as is the need for incorporation of biological markers in epidemiological research, particularly in order to improve the detection and quantification of small increases in risks to health caused by low‐level exposures to environmental toxins.