Pollutant Burdens and Biological Response

Studies aimed at linking pollutant burdens to biological response and environmental exposure have yielded interesting preliminary results. Whereas easily collected specimens such as hair and blood have proven utility in estimation of environmental exposure, these tissues cannot, as yet, be considered a good quantitative indicator of many body pollutant burdens. Studies of occupationally exposed groups or groups of individuals with clinically evident disease have failed to clearly implicate pollutant burdens with either disease production or aggravation although, in general, the blood levels of these individuals do reflect increased exposure to pollutants. Studies of multiple tissue sets collected at autopsy are encouraging inasmuch as it appears these tissues will provide useful information about the pollutant burden for constructing predictive models and, in addition, provide flashback capabilities.