A group of specialists from the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) has announced a book in which it examines how science is advancing to adjust the assessment of health risks derived from exposure to chemical substances.
In a context conditioned by globalization, the emergence of new environmental risks, the simultaneous and increasing exposure to multiple pollutants, and the growing complexity of environments, the publication insists on the urgency of progressing towards more integrative and reality-adjusted approaches.
"Future risk assessment, far from being limited to comparing reference values as has traditionally been done, must tend to combine information from different scientific disciplines, with the aim of better estimating the probability and magnitude of adverse effects on health and the environment," the researchers explain.
The book presents a joint and updated view of the scientific methodology used in the risk assessment of chemical substances, covering classical methods and incorporating novel approaches that show the evolution of knowledge and the direction of regulatory and technical approaches.
It also incorporates the experience of the Risk Assessment Unit of CNSA-ISCIII, and integrates elements such as the development of New Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA) approaches and New Methodological Approaches (NAMs), which combine alternative experimental models to the use of animals, computer tools, and mechanistic data to refine chemical risk assessment.
The document also highlights the relevance of the "One Health" approach, which articulates human, animal, and environmental health in decision-making processes. Through various chapters, practical examples are collected that show the application of these methodologies to real situations, such as the assessment of mixtures of pollutants, the interpretation of human biomonitoring data, or the study of environmental exposures.
The authors hope that the text will become a reference work for professionals, researchers, and students linked to environmental health, helping to deepen the understanding of chemical risks and to strengthen strategies for the prevention and protection of health.
The work, titled Scientific Methodology and New Perspectives on the Risk Assessment of Chemical Substances in Environmental Health, has been prepared by Noelia Domínguez-Morueco, Ana Fernández-Agudo, M. Carmen González-Caballero, and José V. Tarazona, members of the Risk Assessment Unit of the National Center for Environmental Health (CNSA-ISCIII). Ana Cañas, director of the center, signs a preface that summarizes the contents of the work.