People are exposed to a wide-range of hazardous substances in air, water and food. These include organic chemicals such as pesticides and other industrial chemicals, metals, airborne particles such as fibres and those produced by fossil fuel combustion and biological agents such as fungi and bacteria. These exposures may occur in our workplaces, in our homes or outdoors. Our response to these exposures may depend on our age and general state of health and our genetic constitution.

Assessing the need for control and predicting the likely impact of a certain level of exposure requires knowledge about the nature of the exposure, toxicological mechanisms and outcomes of epidemiological studies of associations between exposures and health impacts. Combining this knowledge is key to assessing the risks of hazardous substances and such work often entails the collaboration of scientists working in different disciplines.

We conduct such assessments and participate in a number of expert groups such as the IGHRC (Interdepartmental Group on Health Risks from Chemicals), World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Concerted Action on urban air, indoor environment and human exposure.

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