INTEGRATING SCIENCE AND POLICY IN A NATIONAL HUMAN EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT SURVEY

Despite tremendous progress in environmental protection over the past two decades, critical gaps remain in our understanding of actual human exposures to environmental chemicals. While the research community an d the policy makers share the common goal of reducing environmental ri sks, it must be recognized that their information needs are often dive rgent. The design of effective exposure research must consider the nee ds and practical limitations of regulators and policy-makers and balan ce the often conflicting needs of policy and science. This paper exami nes some of the inherent conflicts between exposure research (science) and regulatory (policy) realities, and describes how the needs of pol icy makers were integrated into the design of a National Human Exposur e Assessment Survey (NHEXAS). NHEXAS represents perhaps the most ambit ious exposure surveillance effort ever undertaken. Exposure surveillan ce presented as a model for bridging the gap between policy and scienc e in the development of risk management approaches. The success of ris k-based priority setting will depend upon the quality of information t o support the risk assessment process. Environmental exposure surveill ance will be essential to the characterization of risks and, ultimatel y, to the evaluation of the effectiveness of regulatory strategies.