What Is an Exposure Pathways Evaluation?

An exposure pathway describes how people in a community might come into contact with a chemical. In an exposure pathways evaluation, five main elements are considered.

Contaminant source or release
Place where the chemicals originated or were released

Environmental fate and transport
Contaminants move through and across different media (water, soil, air, or food) and some degrade completely

Exposure point or area
Specific location(s) where people may come in contact with a chemical in the environment

Exposure route
How the chemical enters a person's body

Potentially exposed population
The people who have or who may have come in contact contaminants

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