Exposure Assessment to Environmental Pollutants in Human Health Risk Assessment Studies; Overview on New Approaches

Background & objectives: Because of human exposure to various environmental risk factors during the lifetime, the actual exposure estimation has been considered as one of the most important challenges for researchers and decision makers. Considering the contribution of environmental risk factors in the burden of diseases, this study aimed to provide new approaches in exposure assessment filed based on the latest studies carried out in the world. Methods: In this review article, according to the objectives of the study, literature related to new approaches in exposure assessment was identified through electronic searching in Scopus, PubMed and web of Science databases. After introducing new approaches, the most important sources of errors and limitations were also examined to reduce uncertainties of exposure estimation in these studies. Results: The results of the study showed that comprehensive exposure assessment using new approaches in personalized exposure assessment, targeted and non-targeted analytical methods, -omics technologies, novel exposure matrices and computational models presented in this study can help researchers to identify the effective factors in development and increase assessor’s knowledge of mechanisms, exposure pathways and biological responses. Conclusion: The use of new exposure assessment approaches provides new opportunity for researchers to better understand the biological processes in the development of diseases and estimate the actual human exposure to environmental risk factors.