Considerations for measuring exposure to chemical mixtures

Abstract

Abstract Exposure to chemical mixtures contributes to human disease risk. While analytical capability is continuing to increase, many chemicals remain understudied with regard to environmental occurrence and to toxicity. If a commercial chemical standard does not exist for a given chemical, then little to no quantitative data likely exists for that chemical. This chapter discusses exposures to organic chemical mixtures, lists necessary considerations for studying those exposures, and highlights research needs to continue to advance mixtures exposure science. When planning or reviewing studies that focus on exposure to chemical mixtures, important considerations include: spatial orientation of sampling, temporality of sampling, bioavailability of measured chemicals, measuring enough of the appropriate chemicals, potential for chemical transformations, and mixture effects. Importantly, relatively little is known about how exposure to mixtures of chemicals differs from exposure to individual chemicals. The majority of toxicity studies are performed using individual chemicals, so characterizing the toxicity of chemical mixtures should be a priority for the scientific community.