Environmental Health Criteria 214

HUMAN EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT
* Population study in Arizona of exposures to metals, VOCs and
pesticides carried out by the University of Arizona, Batelle
Columbus and the Illinois Institute of Technology.
* A study of population exposure measurements of metals, pesticides,
PAHs and VOCs in two random populations drawn from the EPA's region
5, which includes the industrial northern states of the USA.
* The relationship between long-term and short-term exposures of
individuals to metals, PAHs, pesticides and VOCs is being studied
on a population of 50 urban and suburban residents in the
Baltimore, Maryland area.
* Parallel to the field studies is a modelling exercise, where
existing information is used in Monte Carlo simulation routines to
estimate exposure distributions. A preliminary study of the regions
in the first two projects for exposure to pesticides, metals and
VOCs is being carried out by the Harvard School of Public Health.
12.7.3 Windsor, Canada exposure and risk study
The Ontario Ministry of Environment in Canada conducted a
pioneering study to assess air pollution exposure risks to populations
living in Southern Ontario downwind of Detroit, Michigan, a large city
in the USA.
Windsor, Canada has a long history of air pollution monitoring
dating back to the 1940s. The city's environmental concerns increased
when an incinerator was built in Detroit, Michigan. At that time,
Detroit had several steel mills in operation. Concern for
transboundary transport of pollutants continues today.
The Ontario government performed a study between 1991 and 1993 in
order to determine the level of risk associated with air pollution and
to limit the exposure of residents of Windsor to airborne toxics (Bell
et al., 1994). After examination of concentrations of local airborne
toxic pollutants, 10 compounds were chosen for study due to their
persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity in the environment:
* metals: cadmium, chromium (VI), mercury
* VOCs: benzene, 1,3-butadiene, carbon tetrachloride,
1,4-dichlorobenzene, formaldehyde
* PAHs: benzo [a]pyrene
* SVOCs: dioxins, furans.
The study first identified the exposure levels by emissions
monitoring, fixed site ambient air monitoring, mobile air monitoring,
personal exposure measurements, and soil and garden produce survey.
Data on emissions from fixed, area, and mobile sources were placed on
to a grid with 1 km × 1 km squares, including both the Windsor and the
Detroit areas. Ambient monitors in the Windsor area showed levels for
most of the toxics to be lower than federal guidelines, with the
exception of benzo [a]pyrene. Dioxin and furan levels were below
regulatory levels, but were higher than in other Canadian cities. A
mobile monitoring system travelled to find potential hot spots
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