Toxicology and Metabolism Relating to Human Occupational and Residential Chemical Exposures

摘要

39.1 Introduction Whenever commercial chemicals, including pesticides are used, accidental, unintended, or unavoidable human exposure may occur via skin contact, ingestion and/or inhalation. Knowledge of the extent and duration of exposure is essential for enlightened and responsible product stewardship, risk characterization, and management. The societal benefits of our present lifestyle that prominently features chemical technologies can be visualized by review of age-adjusted unintentional death rates that have decreased 62% in the U.S., 1910-2003 [1], Motor vehicle accidents claimed more than 42,000 lives each year since 1999 dwarfing other prominent causes of death including falls, poisoning, ingestion of food and foreign objects, firearms, poisons (solid and liquid, gas and vapors) in descending order. Unintentional injuries are the fifth leading cause of death, exceeded by heart disease, cancer, stroke, and chronic lower respiratory disease. The reduction in death rate during this period of increased reliance on chemical technologies with population tripling represents an estimated 4,800,000 fewer people being killed due to unintentional injuries. That reality is frequently lost among current campaigners and environmental activists who regularly fail to distinguish exposure from toxicity.