The Integration of Bioassay and Physiochemical Information for Complex Mixtures

Abstract

To understand and estimate human environmental risk, investigators need to identify, quantitate, and evaluate the natural and anthropogenic pollutants in our environment. According to Eugene Sawicki, “The main barriers to estimating human environmental risks stem from a lack of knowledge of the chemical composition of our environment, the failure to use the information we have, and our indecision as to what to measure” (Sawicki, 1978). This is especially evident in the areas of genetic toxicology, analytical chemistry, and environmental engineering, where ongoing research has been somewhat isolated. Only recently, with the development of new analytical tools and sensitive short-term tests, has interdisciplinary research into environmental pollutants by engineers, chemists, and genetic toxicologists expanded. This interdisciplinary research involving complex environmental mixtures has created problems not only in the research methods used, but also in the integrating and summarizing of information that can be disseminated and intelligently evaluated. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to illustrate how physiochemical and biological information can be integrated to provide a more complete evaluation of a complex mixture. Although any or all complex mixtures could be used as illustrations, this paper will concentrate on air pollution data.