Inhalation toxicology: Starting with the environment

Abstract The theme of SETAC's Second Annual Meeting was Environmental Risk Assessment, with emphasis on the use of data in the risk assessment and overall decision making process for chemicals. Needs for specific types of data were emphasized by the theme of the meeting and in no area was the void more obvious than in inhalation toxicology. Sufficient information for decision making in this area simply is not available, and no better combination of expertise exists for making judgments of risk than that of the environmental and mammalian toxicologists. To foster further communication between the two, a symposium was held in which experienced mammalian-oriented toxicologists were asked to address the state-of-the-art of inhalation toxicology for the benefit of those more oriented toward the traditional environmental toxicology area. Papers for the symposium are published herein to encourage continued efforts by all toxicologists to share in the data development and decision making process essential for healthy humans to enjoy a quality environment. The present paper is introductory in nature but utilizes recent findings in the author's laboratory concerning inhalation exposure and retention of chemical vapors in rats to demonstrate the rationale for selecting other topics for presentation.