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Perspectives on particle-related health risk assessment. Expert opinion (RECORD project) Volume 20, issue 4, July-August 2021

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Authors
1 Univ. Lille, URL 4515
Laboratoire de génie civil et géo-environnement (LGCgE)
F-59000 Lille
France
2 Faculté de pharmacie de Lille
Laboratoire des sciences végétales et fongiques (LSVF)3, rue du Professeur Laguesse
59000 Lille
France
3 Univ.Lille
LUMEN (ULR 4999)
F-59000 Lille
France
4 ILIS
42, rue Ambroise Paré
59120 Loos
France
5 Membre du directoire scientifique, RECORD
Campus LyonTech La Doua
66, boulevard Niels Bohr CEI 1 - CS 52132
69603 Villeurbanne cedex
France
* Tirés à part

Atmospheric particles pose a real public health problem: they carry a “cocktail” of pollutants adsorbed on their surface and play a major role in the toxicity of pollution. The objective of this article is to study the relevance of tools for assessing and managing the health impact of these particles. To explore current practices and define future needs, we conducted interviews with researchers, engineers, and institutional players recognized in various fields of expertise related to particles. A qualitative analysis of their responses yielded a mind map representing categories of the main ideas and concepts. The experts mainly expressed their opinions on two currently used but perfectible methodologies: (i) health risk assessments, which cannot currently be applied directly to atmospheric particles (the approach can be applied separately for components of particles for which toxicological reference values exist), and (ii) qualitative health impact assessments, which need to focus more on developing new health indicators and standardizing the methodology used. Among the new points for consideration put forward was the introduction of new cross-disciplinary projects.