To foster excellence in research in the basic and applied aspects of measuring and estimating human contact and exposures within environmental, personal and occupational settings.
The general population has grown accustomed to hearing warnings about chemical contamination of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. Measuring the amount of pollution in the environment is the first step in assessing the potential danger. The proximity of the contaminant to the human, personal activities, duration of contact, and the body's response are also all critical in determining a chemical's effect on human health.
The Exposure Measurment and Assessment Division of EOHSI identifies or estimates the human contact with health hazards by analyzing the type, concentration, duration, routes of entry and outcomes of exposures to chemical and physical agents both in the workplace and community environments. Division researchers develop and apply physical, chemical and biological markers of exposure. They also construct models using time-activity patterns to estimate the total exposure within large segments of the population, and collaboratively with other divisions in EOHSI to couple exposure levels with the incidence of disease. The division has sophisticated analytical facilities to complete organic/inorganic chemical analyses, and a state of the art Computational Chemodynamics Laboratory. A Controlled Environment Facility has been constructed for instrumentation, biomarker and human health studies. Using an interdisciplinary approach, research in the division obtains a clearer picture of the real health risks posed by physical agents and chemical pollution.
The dividion supports the first joint Doctoral Program in Exposure Assessment sponsored by Rutgers University and UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Research is supported thrugh grants, cooperative agreements and contracts with Federal and State Agencies and industry. The Division participates in the NIEHS Center of Excellence and the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey.