BIOGEOCHEMICAL APPROACHES TO HUMAN EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT

Abstract For understanding the quantitative mechanisms of human risk assessment, the researcher has to know the interrelations between biogeochemical cycling and human risk endpoints. In the previous chapters we have considered the natural biogeochemical cycles of various chemical elements and their alterations under anthropogenic activity. We can conclude that at present the alteration of biogeochemical cycling under the influence of humans is undoubtedly accompanied by changes in food webs. This leads to the reversible and/or irreversible transformation of human health both at the individual and population levels. For the understanding of the interactions between changes in natural biogeochemical cycling and human health risk, one should take into account the numerous data on the migration of essential and non-essential elements in biogeochemical food webs and estimate the correlation with biochemical and physiological indexes of human organisms as the endpoints.