Exposure scenarios are a tool to help the assessor develop estimates of exposure, dose, and risk. An exposure scenario generally includes facts, data, assumptions, inferences, and sometimes professional judgment about how the exposure takes place. The human physiological and behavioral data necessary to construct exposure scenarios can be obtained from the Exposure Factors Handbook (U.S. EPA, 1997a). The handbook provides data on drinking water consumption, soil ingestion, inhalation rates, dermal factors including skin area and soil adherence factors, consumption of fruits and vegetables, fish, meats, dairy products, homegrown foods, breast milk, activity patterns, body weight, consumer products, and life expectancy. The purpose of the Example Exposure Scenarios is to outline scenarios for various exposure pathways and to demonstrate how data from the Exposure Factors Handbook (U.S. EPA, 1997a) may be applied for estimating exposures. The example scenarios presented here have been selected to best demonstrate the use of the various key data sets in the Exposure Factors Handbook (U.S. EPA, 1997a), and represent commonly encountered exposure pathways. An exhaustive review of every possible exposure scenario for every possible receptor population would not be feasible and is not provided. Instead, readers may use the representative examples provided here to formulate scenarios that are appropriate to the assessment of interest, and apply the same or similar data sets and approaches as shown in the examples.

"EPA/600/R-03/036." August 2004.

Introduction and purpose of this document -- Conducting an exposure assessment -- Choice of exposure scenarios -- Conversion factors -- Definitions -- Example ingestion exposure scenarios -- Per capita ingestion of contaminated homegrown vegetables: general population (adults) ... -- Consumer only ingestion of contaminated homegrown tomatoes: children ... -- Per capita ingestion of contaminated beef: adults ... -- Consumer only ingestion of contaminated dairy products: general population (all ages combined) ... -- Ingestion of contaminated drinking water: occupational adults ... -- Ingestion of contaminated drinking water: school children ... -- Ingestion of contaminated drinking water: adult males, high physical activity occupations ... -- Incidental ingestion of pool water: children ... -- Ingestion of contaminated freshwater and marine fish: children, central tendency, chronic exposure -- Ingestion of contaminated fish: subsistence fishing native American adults ... --Consumer only ingestion of contaminated fish ... -- Ingestion of contaminated breast milk ... -- Ingestion of contaminated indoor dust ... -- Ingestion of indoor dust originating from outdoor soil ... -- Example inhalation exposure scenarios -- Inhalation of contaminated indoor air: occupational female adults ... -- Inhalation of contaminated indoor air: residential child ... --Inhalation of contaminated indoor air: school children ... -- Example dermal exposures -- Dermal contact with contaminated soil: residential adult gardeners ... -- Dermal contact with soil: teen athlete ... -- Dermal contact with consumer products: general population adults ... -- Dermal contact with surface water: recreational children ...