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Establishing exposure science as a distinct scientific discipline.

Pleil JD; Blount BC; Waidyanatha S; Harper M

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2012 Jul-Aug; 22(4):317-319

https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2012.5

20041110

As readers of this journal, we are likely in agreement that ''Exposure science is the bedrock for protection of public health.'', and despite some differing opinions as to what the exact definition of ''exposure science'' should be, a general consensus states that it ''... studies human contact with chemical, physical, or biological agents occurring in their environments, and advances knowledge of the mechanisms and dynamics of events either causing or preventing adverse health outcomes.'' We have probably also observed that, in the greater scheme of scientific professions, those who practice exposure science are erstwhile chemists, biologists, physicists, toxicologists, epidemiologists, mathematicians, computer scientists, statisticians, environmental engineers, and medical/public health doctors; few, if any, of us are formally trained ''exposure scientists''. Furthermore, exposure science tends to be considered a part of the other public health disciplines; the toxicologists, statisticians, and epidemiologists treat exposure as a subset of their disciplines, and often express concern about the lack of sufficient exposure information. In this article, we hope to promote exposure science as a distinct and recognizable scientific discipline.

Exposure-levels; Exposure-limits; Public-health; Environmental-exposure; Environmental-health; Chemical-reactions; Physiological-effects; Biological-effects; Humans; Men; Women; Toxicology; Epidemiology; Statistical-analysis

JEAEE9

20120701

Other

pleil.joachim@epa.gov

2012

B07182012

4

1559-0631

HELD

Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology

NC; GA; WV