Exposure Assessment
Why contact C&IH for exposure assessment?
- Expertise in all areas of exposure assessment, from prospective (current and ongoing) to retrospective (i.e. historical) exposure assessment
- Certified industrial hygienists (CIH), board-certified toxicologists (DABT), professional engineer (PE), and other technical staff with advanced education and experience in chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, and toxicology
- Extensive training and experience in assessing workplace, environmental, and para-occupational exposures
- Customized exposure assessments performed on-site or in our exposure simulation chamber
Protecting individuals from work-related and environmental illness depends on accurately identifying and characterizing potential exposures, and implementing controls to protect individuals from these exposures. The basis of C&IH's exposure assessment practice is derived from the exposure paradigm whereby only a complete exposure pathway can lead to a health impact. C&IH has experience performing exposure assessments for chemical, physical, and biological agents in a wide variety of occupational and non-occupational environments. Since exposures can occur through many routes (inhalation, ingestion, and direct contact), our professional staff employs fundamental scientific methodologies to each exposure assessment. By effectively identifying, prioritizing, and quantifying exposures in the workplace and those from contaminants taken home (para-occupational), C&IH can help our clients effectively protect workers and the environment.
Exposure Simulations and Computational Fluid Dynamics
Through the use of our in-house exposure simulation chamber, C&IH can create or recreate most exposures. Our simulation studies can incorporate direct exposure measurements with computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models, allowing us to predict and quantify both retrospective and prospective exposures. In addition, C&IH has pre-established teaming relationships with occupational health physicians for further toxicological and medical expertise on any project. C&IH personnel have also served as committee members on various local and national committees of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), and have published and presented in the areas of chemical, physical, and biological sampling and analysis, exposure and risk assessment, and toxicology.
C&IH Exposure Assessment Experience and Capabilities
- Classical industrial hygiene exposure assessments for OSHA compliance including sampling for typical and unusual airborne contaminants, working with laboratories to develop and/or modify analytical methods for agents without permissible exposure limits, and development of novel sampling methods to assess potential airborne and contact (dermal) exposures
- Development and implementation of computerized models including computational fluid dynamics (CFD), for airborne particulate and vapor flow characteristics, fate and transport of environmental contaminants in soil and groundwater that may impact indoor air, and probabilistic analysis of data sets to identify and categorize potential exposure concentrations
- Exposure assessments for children potentially exposed to metals including arsenic, cadmium, and lead at low-income housing projects and schools near large urban smelters, a Superfund mine tailings site, and other sources
- Biological exposure assessments for various bacterial and fungal agents including sampling, data interpretation, and exposure pathways analysis for Legionella, thermophilic actinomycetes, methacillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), sewage-related bacteria, fungi (mold), and metabolites (e.g., endotoxins)
- Retrospective exposure assessments for industrial, commercial, railroad, construction, and other trade workers formerly exposed to a variety of chemical and physical agents including chlorinated and aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 2.4-D and 2,4,5-T (Agent Orange/Dioxin), various metals, silica, and asbestos, including correlation with biomarkers associated with these exposures
- Exposure assessment for infants and children in Shymkent, Kazakhstan living near a lead smelter, including characterization of dust, soil, and airborne exposures within a five kilometer radius of the plant and determination and correlation with lead-blood levels in children
- Superfund-based and modified exposure assessments in support of site investigations, feasibility studies, remedial actions, and property development-based activities for a variety of metals, volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, and other toxic agents at industrial facilities, commercial properties, Brownfields developments, and RCRA/CERCLA sites in support of litigation, remedial action decision-making, and/or land use criteria development and implementation
