Minute Dose Health Risk Issues

The July 25, 2005 edition of the Wall Street Journal featured a front page article by Peter Waldman on the issue of the effects of minute doses of chemical agents on hormonal processes that impact human health. The evaluation of effects of substituents in amounts as low as parts per trillion "challenges an axiom of toxicology stated by the Swiss chemist Paracelsus nearly 500 years ago:  The dose makes the poison." 

There are many complicating factors. Some chemical agents seem to require the presence of a secondary agent in order to manifest biological effects. Accurate analytical measurement of part per trillion levels of analytes presents significant challenges. And the possibility or likelihood of natural occurrence of some agents (such as perchlorate) commonly regarded as "industrial chemicals" further complicates the "risk vs. benefit" debate. 

For more information go to  www.wsj.com.