Epidemiological product assessment

Abstract

Policy makers and regulators have increasingly expressed an interest in obtaining more safety data and guidance on the use of consumer products. A number of concerns have been raised about the potential health risks associated with the consumption of consumer products or exposure to some of their components. The products that have received scrutiny cover quite a large range, including all sorts of commercial products, home products, personal care products, children’s products, and food products. This increased interest has led to a greater emphasis on the use of observational methods to understand the safety profile of products after they are marketed. With the development of new technologies, increasingly available biomonitoring data have provided evidence of widespread human exposure to large numbers of chemical, microbiological, and physical agents. Epidemiological methods and studies can contribute to assessments of the health risks posed by consumer products. The objectives of this contribution are to introduce key notions of epidemiological research and to show how these notions can be applied to consumer products.