You are here:
Ecological Assembly of Chemical Mixtures
Citation:
Tornero-Velez, R. AND P. Egeghy. Ecological Assembly of Chemical Mixtures. Chapter 6, Chemical Mixtures and Combined Chemical and Nonchemical Stressors. Springer Basel AG, Basel, Switzerland, , 151-175, (2018).
Impact/Purpose:
Exposure to multiple chemical and nonchemical stressors is the rule, not the exception. Nevertheless, it continues to be a significant challenge in toxicology and risk assessment to thoroughly take mixtures into account. In this book, both basic and advanced concepts for considering mixtures are discussed, from initial-exposure characterization through the evaluation of risk associated with combined exposures. Several chapters also examine the adoption of promising tools from other disciplines. Looking beyond chemical mixtures, the discussion also addresses incorporating nonchemical stressors into toxicity studies and cumulative-risk assessments.
Description:
Human-environment interactions have a significant role in the formation of chemical mixtures in the environment and by extension in human tissues and fluids. These interactions, which include decisions to purchase and use products containing chemicals as well as behaviors and activities that explain the uptake and absorption of chemicals, may be viewed as an ecological relationship between humans and their environments. Methods with origins in community ecology for evaluating structure in assemblages of flora and fauna are applied to investigate the nonrandom assembly of chemical species. Presence-absence matrix-based techniques are used to elaborate co-occurrence patterns with the aim of identifying the principal chemicals which tend to co-occur. This ecological premise is expanded by drawing on consumer market basket analysis techniques to show how this approach may help identify robust co-occurrence patterns.
