title: A discussion of exposure science in the 21st century: a vision and a strategy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences recently published the report Exposure Science in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy. The expert committee undertaking this report included expertise from ecology, chemistry, exposure science, toxicology, public health, bioethics, engineering, medicine, and policy.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim is to inform members of the scientific community in fields aligned with environmental and public health so they are more able to appreciate the full breadth of the vision and understand the framework developed in order to move the vision forward.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the NRC report was commissioned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, it is solely the consensus product of the independent volunteer committee, whose findings were subject to the rigorous peer-review procedures of the NRC. In addition to reviewing the history and current status of exposure science, the report lays out a vision for the future and makes recommendations that include both short-term and long-term milestones.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To accomplish the vision presented in the NRC report, resources will be needed to complete studies, develop and use analyses of exposure, and build databases associated with individual and population exposures, as well as to train the next generation of exposure scientists. Important excerpts as well as paraphrased statements from the report appear in this commentary; however, the general observations and comments are our own.
authors: Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA. plioy@eohsi.rutgers.edu
authors: Paul J
authors: PJ
authors: Lioy
authors: Kirk R
authors: KR
authors: Smith
mesh_terms: D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000592:standards*; D004782:Environmental Health; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D009307:National Academy of Sciences, U.S.; D054585:National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (U.S.); D011634:Public Health; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States; D014484:United States Environmental Protection Agency
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants
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