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Estimated Soil Ingestion Rates for Use in Risk Assessment
Author(s) -
LaGoy Peter K.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
risk analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1539-6924
pISSN - 0272-4332
DOI - 10.1111/j.1539-6924.1987.tb00471.x
Subject(s) - ingestion , environmental science , risk assessment , zoology , medicine , biology , computer security , computer science , endocrinology
Assessing the risks to human health posed by contaminants present in soil requires an estimate of likely soil ingestion rates. In the past, direct measurements of soil ingestion were not available and risk assessors were forced to estimate soil ingestion rates based on observations of mouthing behavior and measurements of soil on hands. Recently, empirical data on soil ingestion rates have become available from two sources (Binder et al. , 1986( 1 ) and van Wijnen et al. , 1986( 2 ). Although preliminary, these data can be used to derive better estimates of soil ingestion rates for use in risk assessments. Estimates of average soil ingestion rates derived in this paper range from 25 to 100 mg/day, depending on the age of the individual at risk. Maximum soil ingestion rates that are unlikely to underestimate exposure range from 100 to 500 mg. A value of 5,000 mg/day is considered a reasonable estimate of a maximum single‐day exposure for a child with habitual pica.