Exposure science


Exposure science is the study of an organism's contact with chemical, physical, biological agents or other health risk occurring in their environments, and advances knowledge of the mechanisms and dynamics of events either causing or preventing adverse health outcomes.
Exposure science can be thought of most simply as the study of stressors, receptors, and their contacts in the context of space and time. For example, ecosystems are receptors for such stressors as mercury, which may cascade from the ecosystem to populations to individuals in the ecosystem because of concentration and accumulation in the food web, which lead to exposure of humans and other species. As the stressor is absorbed into the bodies of organisms, it comes into contact with tissues and organs. It is important to recognize that exposure science applies to any level of biologic organization ecologic, community, or individual—and, at the individual level, encompasses external exposure, internal exposure, and dose.