Health exposure assessment and policy analysis

Many of the existing models in regard to health, environment and development answer very few questions of concern to health planners. The models need to be precise and specific. Potential impacts of environmental pollutants on human health are evaluated on the basis of quantitative health risk assessment (QHRA). Distribution and transport of pollutants; human exposure to the pollutant; and toxicology and pharmacokinetics of a pollutant in human beings are the elements involved in health modelling. In the present paper, age‐specific human exposures to air pollutants (suspended particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide) have been analysed and estimated for two cities, Delhi and Nagpur, in India. The analysis, which is based on age‐specific breathing rates, body weights and occupancy factors for residential, commercial and industrial zones, highlights the exposure‐risks due to suspended particulate matter (SPM), SO2 and NO2. Amongst several interesting inferences which the analysis brings out is the fact that children suffer most from air pollution induced health‐risks. Interfacing the present model with toxicokinetic and pharmaco‐dynamic models will facilitate more precise quantification and assessment of health‐risks.