Aggregate exposure approaches for parabens in personal care products: a case assessment for children between 0 and 3 years old.

In the risk assessment of chemical substances, aggregation of exposure to a substance from different sources via different pathways is not common practice. Focusing the exposure assessment on a substance from a single source can lead to a significant underestimation of the risk. To gain more insight on how to perform an aggregate exposure assessment, we applied a deterministic (tier 1) and a person-oriented probabilistic approach (tier 2) for exposure to the four most common parabens through personal care products in children between 0 and 3 years old.

Results of a cosmetovigilance survey in The Netherlands.

Background: Cosmetic products contribute considerably to the incidence of contact dermatitis. In response to a resolution of the Council of Europe, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in The Netherlands set up a pilot project to report undesirable effects attributed to cosmetic products.

Objectives: To provide an overview of undesirable effects attributed to cosmetic products and to identify the ingredients involved.

Review of health safety aspects of nanotechnologies in food production.

Due to new, previously unknown, properties attributed to engineered nanoparticles many new products are introduced in the agro-food area. Nanotechnologies cover many aspects, such as disease treatment, food security, new materials for pathogen detection, packaging materials and delivery systems. As with most new and evolving technologies, potential benefits are emphasized, while little is known on safety of the application of nanotechnologies in the agro-food sector.

Dermatokinetics of didecyldimethylammonium chloride and the influence of some commercial biocidal formulations on its dermal absorption in vitro.

The in vitro dermal absorption kinetics of didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDAC) was studied after single and multiple exposure. In addition, the influence of biocidal formulations on the absorption of DDAC was investigated. Following dermal exposure to DDAC in aqueous solution, less than 0.

Within-animal variation as an indication of the minimal magnitude of the critical effect size for continuous toxicological parameters applicable in the benchmark dose approach.

In this study, the within-animal variation in routinely studied continuous toxicological parameters was estimated from temporal fluctuations in individual healthy nonexposed animals. Assuming that these fluctuations are nonadverse, this within-animal variation may be indicative of the minimal magnitude of the critical effect size (CES). The CES is defined as the breaking point between adverse and nonadverse changes in a continuous toxicological parameter, at the level of the individual organism.

Dose-response relationships and threshold levels in skin and respiratory allergy.

A literature study was performed to evaluate dose-response relationships and no-effect levels for sensitization and elicitation in skin- and respiratory allergy. With respect to the skin, dose-response relationships and no-effect levels were found for both intradermal and topical induction, as well as for intradermal and topical elicitation of allergenic responses in epidemiological, clinical, and animal studies. Skin damage or irritation may result in a significant reduction of the no-effect level for a specific compound.

Inhaled formaldehyde: evaluation of sensory irritation in relation to carcinogenicity.

Objectives: The critical health effects of formaldehyde exposure include sensory irritation and the potential to induce tumours in the upper respiratory tract. In literature, a concentration as low as 0.24 ppm has been reported to be irritating to the respiratory tract in humans.

Local effects in the respiratory tract: relevance of subjectively measured irritation for setting occupational exposure limits.

Objectives: Chemosensory effects of stimulation by a chemical can either be irritating (trigeminal stimulation) or odorous (olfactory stimulation) or both. For odorous irritants, a clear-cut distinction between odour and irritation is difficult to make. The differences in the lowest concentration found to be irritating to the respiratory tract in humans when compared to experimental animals has brought much debate in the process of setting occupational exposure limits (OELs) for such chemicals.

Effects of single and repeated exposure to biocidal active substances on the barrier function of the skin in vitro.

The dermal route of exposure is important in worker exposure to biocidal products. Many biocidal active substances which are used on a daily basis may decrease the barrier function of the skin to a larger extent than current risk assessment practice addresses, due to possible skin effects of repeated exposure. The influence of repeated and single exposure to representative biocidal active substances on the skin barrier was investigated in vitro.

Oral-to-inhalation route extrapolation in occupational health risk assessment: a critical assessment.

Due to a lack of route-specific toxicity data, the health risks resulting from occupational exposure are frequently assessed by route-to-route (RtR) extrapolation based on oral toxicity data. Insight into the conditions for and the uncertainties connected with the application of RtR extrapolation has not been clearly described in a systematic manner. In our opinion, for a reliable occupational health risk assessment, it is necessary to have insight into the accuracy of the routinely applied RtR extrapolation and, if possible, to give a (semi-)quantitative estimate of the possible error introduced.

Prediction of local irritant effects after repeated dermal and respiratory exposure to chemicals.

Health risks resulting from occupational exposure to chemicals are controlled by the establishment of acceptable dermal and respiratory exposure levels. Due to a lack of route-specific toxicity data, acceptable levels are frequently established by means of route-to-route extrapolation. A pitfall in route-to-route extrapolation is the occurrence of local effects.