Exposição humana a substâncias químicas potencialmente tóxicas na dieta e os riscos para saúde

Abstract

Recebido em 16/9/08; aceito em 11/2/09; publicado na web em 23/7/09 CHEMICAL DIETARY EXPOSURE AND THE RISKS TO HUMAN HEALTH. Humans are exposed to a variety of chemicals from the consumption of food, including undesirable compounds such as pesticides and mycotoxins. Chemical human risk assessment is a process intended to estimate the risk to a given population from the exposure to a chemical (or to a chemical group having the same mechanism of action). The process consists of four steps, namely hazard identification, hazard characterization, exposure assessment and risk characterization. Chemical dietary risk assessment is an essential procedure to establish safe food standards. In this review the tools and data sources currently used in the risk assessment process will be discussed.