OCCUPATIONAL TOXICOLOGY
Occupational toxicologists assess the hazards and risks to health posed by chemicals encountered in the workplace.
Many of the chemicals that occupational toxicologists must deal don’t cause an appreciable risk to health when they are present at low levels in food, consumer products and the environment. However, workers may be exposed to these chemicals at considerably higher levels than the general public, so the consequences of human exposure are potentially the most serious in the work place. Occupational toxicology is not only important in chemical factories, but is just as relevant in high-street bakeries handling flour dust, or hairdressers using hair dyes. They also advise government on legal controls necessary to ensure that chemicals are handled and used safely.
Occupational toxicologists must understand the potential toxicity (hazard) posed by a particular substance. They must then assess the risks to human health in specific occupational settings, taking into account the level duration and route of exposure and any other factors that influence the way that workers handle the substance.