Community assistance in characterizing exposure factors peculiar to particular segments of the population can focus a risk assessment and broaden risk-management options. The Commission heard testimony from Asians and Pacific Islanders about their fish-consumption patterns and about the role that education can play in risk management. Not only do they consume more fish, but they consume parts of seafood that are usually discarded by others and in which pollutants are often concentrated, placing themselves at higher risk than the general population for the effects of contaminants in fish. They reported that educational brochures, signs around contaminated bodies of water, and community involvement led to voluntary reduction in exposure through modest changes in fish-eating in the Seattle area. In contrast, Mark Van Putten, of the National Wildlife Federation, testified that in the Great Lakes region it was difficult to convince risk managers that subsistence fishers, such as Native Americans, should be considered in risk assessments.
Exposure assessments vary greatly in design and content.
Complex risk-management decisions often are based on simplistic, deterministic estimates of exposure derived from few data, many assumptions, and inadequately validated models. In contrast, some exposure assessments are more complex than is needed for straightforward risk-management decisions. Exposure assessments should be designed to be commensurate with the needs of the risk-management decisions at issue. No method or group of methods should be used in all cases. The following general principles are suggested as the basis of the planning of an exposure assessment.