Restriction on human exposure to xenobiotics: theory and practice

Abstract

Exposure to environmental xenobiotics, which influence the everyday life of all humans in our times, has become a subject of intensive analysis by scientists, authorities of environmental hazards, state authorities and authors of legislation. Toxicological risk assessment of chemicals in contaminated food and water as well as polluted air is expressed in basic ‘toxic units’. A broad-scale human biomonitoring (HBM) for environmental toxicants is the strategy of a cause-effect analysis of chemical exposure to environmental xenobiotics. HBM demonstrates the relationships between exposure to xenobiotics and the following health disorders: obesity, impaired reproduction, type 1 diabetes (T1D), autism, cancers and other diseases in the society. Developing effective toxicological tools and legislative standards is expected to help in eliminating endocrine disruptor chemicals (EDCs), which cause infertility. The exceptional category of xenobiotics, which highly influences human health, and is treated as a priority problem to be controlled in the European Union, form genotoxic carcinogens. According to a current assessment, hundreds of chemical xenobiotics and their metabolites, in the minimum detectable quantity, mostly all of anthropogenic origin, can be found in the organisms of inhabitants in western countries. Despite the permanent presence of xenobiotics in human environment, it is worth taking into consideration practical methods to limit and avoid contacts with environmental chemicals. It concerns the provision of water and air filters, the thermal processing of food, the selection of food products, and other aspects of everyday life.