Overview

Abstract (English)

To accurately assess human health risk posed by exposure to environmental contaminants, scientists require current data on various factors, including body weights, inhalation rates, and time-activity patterns (e.g., time spent indoors versus outdoors). Risk assessments conducted in Canada for Canadians require current data on these and other factors that reflect the Canadian population. However, unlike the U.S., where the Environmental Protection Agency regularly compiles and publishes exposure factors for risk assessment (see U.S. EPA 2008, 2011), no regulatory agency in Canada compiles or updates this type of information. To provide this needed information in one place, the Compendium of Canadian Human Exposure Factors for Risk Assessment (Richardson 1997; referred to herein as the “1997 Compendium”) was published and has been a valuable resource for Canadian risk assessors. The 1997 Compendiumis now dated: some of the exposure factors presented in it were based on data from Canadian surveys that have since been repeated. The data and statistics presented in this 2013 Canadian Exposure Factors Handbookare based on current surveys that better reflect current Canadian population characteristics, behaviours, and activities; therefore, this handbook is meant to replace the 1997 Compendium. Its goal is to provide an accessible, up-to-date resource for Canadian risk assessors and environmental regulatory agencies, ensuring that human health risk assessments are relevant, accurate, and as free of uncertainty as possible.

Abstract (French)

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