Cancer health risk significantly underestimated by EPA's ambient model...( The cancer risk from exposure to volati...)

The cancer risk from exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is vastly underestimated by current models that rely solely on ambient emissions. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health showed that cancer risk figures based on actual measured exposure for communities in Baltimore, Md. were as much as three-fold greater than estimates given by models. Their study is the first of its kind to directly compare the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Assessment System for Population Exposure Nationwide (ASPEN) model results to indoor, outdoor and personal exposure measurements. Scientists use pollutant exposure measurements to estimate public health risk. Such a comparison is important in evaluating the validity of ASPEN, which is being used nationally to assess the public health impact of ambient air toxins. The study, "Personal Exposure Meets Risk Assessment: A Comparison of Measured and Modeled Exposures and Risks in an Urban Community" is published in the April 2004 issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Timothy J. Buckley, PhD, MHS, the senior author of the study and an associate professor in the School's Department of Environmental Health Sciences, said, "The public health implications of our findings loom large. ASPEN has already shown that for many U.S. census tracts, risk from ambient air toxins exceeds acceptable levels. Now our data indicates that because of significant indoor source contributions, these risks are much worse."

Passive air sampling badges were used to compare personal, outdoor and indoor residential concentrations of VOCs for 33 non-smoking, adult study participants to ASPEN ambient estimates. The researchers wanted to learn how well ASPEN represented indoor and personal exposures, since such measures form the basis for the true public health risk.

For VOCs that have significant indoor sources, such as chloroform, the researchers found that ASPEN far underestimated the
'"/>

Contact: Kenna L. Brigham
paffairs@jhsph.edu
410-955-6878
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
2-Mar-2004

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. Cancer vaccine based on pathogenic listeria bacteria shows promise targeting metastases
2. 16th EORTC NCI AACR Symposium Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics
3. 16th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics
4. Cancer gene MYC emerging as key research target
5. Cancer patient, heal thyself
6. USC researcher named General Motors Cancer Research Scholar
7. Fox Chase Cancer Centers Alfred Knudson Jr. named 2004 Kyoto Prize winner
8. Wilex & Fox Chase Cancer Center begin trial w/ novel compound targeting tumor invasion & metastasis
9. Cancer drug resistance research leads to possible therapeutic target for Alzheimers disease
10. Fox Chase Cancer Center research shows kidney cancer can be diagnosed in urine
11. National Cancer Gene Therapy Foundation gives $4.0 million in research grants