Cumulative Risk Assessment: An Overview of Methodological Approaches for Evaluating Combined Health Effects from Exposure to Multiple Environmental Stressors

Ken Sexton
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Ken Sexton: Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, University of Texas, School of Public Health, Brownsville Regional Campus, 80 Fort Brown, Brownsville, TX 78520, USA

IJERPH, 2012, vol. 9, issue 2, 1-21

Abstract: Systematic evaluation of cumulative health risks from the combined effects of multiple environmental stressors is becoming a vital component of risk-based decisions aimed at protecting human populations and communities. This article briefly examines the historical development of cumulative risk assessment as an analytical tool, and discusses current approaches for evaluating cumulative health effects from exposure to both chemical mixtures and combinations of chemical and nonchemical stressors. A comparison of stressor-based and effects-based assessment methods is presented, and the potential value of focusing on viable risk management options to limit the scope of cumulative evaluations is discussed. The ultimate goal of cumulative risk assessment is to provide answers to decision-relevant questions based on organized scientific analysis; even if the answers, at least for the time being, are inexact and uncertain.

Keywords: chemical mixtures; combined health effects; cumulative risk assessment; environmental justice; nonchemical stressors; risk analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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