A Tiered Screening Approach to Evaluating Chemical Exposures from Consumer and Commercial Products

Abstract

To assess human health risks associated with chemicals, risk assessors often utilize models that evaluate the health effects of a chemical constituent based on inherent characteristics and the potential for human exposure to the chemical. The complexity of these models, however, makes them difficult to adopt. A simplified, screening-level assessment is needed. Although several approaches exist for screening chemical ingredient hazards in consumer and commercial products, few exist that allow users to combine this hazard information with exposure potential to screen ingredients or products based on risk. In this paper, we propose a tiered approach to effectively screen product ingredients using readily accessible public information. This approach evaluates hazard using the Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labeling along with environmental persistence and bioaccumulation data. Based on the hazard results, one can then assess product ingredients for exposures that may lead to negative health effects. Ingredients that present low hazard, or have minimal exposure levels, are considered low priority. For ingredients that do not pass an initial hazard and exposure screen, more sophisticated approaches may be used to further evaluate the likelihood and extent of potential exposures. Each evaluation tier is designed to be conservative to provide an approach that helps to achieve safe use of the product.