Short-Term Carcinogenesis and Mutagenesis Bioassays of Unregulated Automotive Emissions

摘要

Evaluation of the potential risk of a chemical or environmental emission causing chronic health effects requires data from one or more of the following sources: epidemiologic and clinical studies of human exposure and effects; chronic (long term) bioassays in animals; and short-term bioassays in animals, animal and human cells, insects, plants, and microorganisms. Although it is advantageous to have data from as many different sources and bioassays systems as possible, human and chronic animal data are essential to the definitive determination of whether a substance poses a carcinogenic hazard to humans. Often, however, such data are not available for the evaluation of emissions from new or alternative technologies. In particular, data from long-term human or animal studies are rarely available before the introduction of new emission sources. Short-term tests, therefore, provide important suggestive evidence of a substance's potential to cause genotoxic effects.