Animals as sentinels of environmental health hazards / Committee on Animals as Monitors of Environmental Hazards, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council

Studying animals in the environment may be a realistic and highly beneficial approach to identifying unknown chemical contaminants before they cause human harm. "Animals as Sentinels of Environmental Health Hazards" presents an overview of animal-monitoring programs, including detailed case studies of how animal health problems - such as the effects of DDT on wild bird populations - have led researchers to the sources of human health hazards. The authors examine the components and characteristics required for an effective animal-monitoring program, and they evaluate numerous existing programs, including in situ research, where an animal is placed in a natural setting for monitoring purposes. Animals as Sentinels of Environmental Health Hazards......Page 2 Copyright......Page 3 Preface......Page 8 Contents......Page 12 INTRODUCTION......Page 14 Current Use of Animal Sentinels in Risk Assessment......Page 15 Species......Page 17 Exposure Sources......Page 18 Measures of Effect......Page 19 Objectives of Monitoring Animals Sentinels......Page 20 Measurement of Exposure and Extrapolation to Humans......Page 21 FOOD ANIMALS AS SENTINELS......Page 22 FISH AND OTHER WILDLIFE AS SENTINELS......Page 23 ANIMAL SENTINELS IN RISK ASSESSMENT......Page 24 SELECTION AND APPLICATION OF ANIMAL SENTINEL SYSTEMS IN RISK ASSESSMENT......Page 25 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS......Page 26 STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT......Page 28 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY......Page 32 CURRENT USE OF ANIMAL SENTINELS IN RISK ASSESSMENT......Page 34 STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT......Page 43 Species......Page 46 A sentinel species must have sufficient population size and density to permit enumeration......Page 47 Exposure Sources......Page 48 Duration of Exposure......Page 50 Measures of Effect......Page 51 Reference Populations......Page 52 OBJECTIVES OF MONITORING ANIMAL SENTINELS......Page 53 Human Health Effects......Page 54 Environmental Contamination......Page 55 Adverse Effects on Animals......Page 56 ANIMAL SENTINEL SYSTEMS IN OBSERVATIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES......Page 58 Descriptive Epidemiology......Page 59 Analytic Epidemiologic......Page 60 Multifactorial Causality......Page 61 Measurement of Exposure and Extrapolation to Humans......Page 63 3 Food Animals as Sentinels......Page 66 Food Safety and Inspection Service......Page 67 National Animal Health Monitoring System......Page 69 Market Cattle Identification Program......Page 71 Food and Drug Administration......Page 72 Shellfish Monitoring Programs......Page 73 The National Animal Poison Information Network......Page 74 Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Chickens......Page 75 Polybrominated Biphenyls in Cattle......Page 76 Cattle and Heavy Metals......Page 77 SUMMARY......Page 78 4 Companion Animals as Sentinels......Page 82 Poison-Control Centers......Page 83 Canine Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure......Page 84 Canine Bladder Cancer and Insecticide Exposure......Page 85 Breast Cancer in Dogs......Page 87 Diet and Survival with Breast Cancer......Page 88 Birds and Polytetrafluoroethylene Exposure......Page 89 Animal Neoplasm Registry......Page 90 SUMMARY......Page 93 DESCRIPTIVE EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES......Page 94 National Status and Trends Program......Page 95 Mussel Watch......Page 96 National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program......Page 97 Registry of Tumors in Lower Animals......Page 98 Penrose Laboratory of Comparative Pathology......Page 100 Quarterly Wildlife Mortality Report......Page 101 Great Lakes......Page 102 Chesapeake Bay......Page 103 Puget Sound......Page 104 Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary......Page 105 Initial Identification of Hazardous Agents......Page 106 Indication of Bioavailability of Chemicals at Hazardous-Waste Sites......Page 107 Water-Quality Monitoring......Page 108 Risk Characterization of Species Under Study......Page 109 Contamination of Human Food Chain......Page 110 Planarians......Page 112 Earthworms......Page 113 SUMMARY......Page 114 6 Animal Sentinels in Risk Assessment......Page 116 Animals as General Environmental Monitors......Page 118 Animals as Monitors of Their Own Exposure......Page 119 Animals as Surrogate Monitors of Human Exposure......Page 120 Early Warnings: Initial Identification of Hazardous Agents......Page 122 Hazard Identification for Chemical Mixtures......Page 123 USE OF ANIMAL SENTINEL SYSTEMS IN RISK CHARACTERIZATION......Page 124 Risks to Animal Species Under Study......Page 125 Risk to Consumers of Animal Species Under Study......Page 126 Risk to Humans: Animal Sentinels as Surrogates......Page 127 Management of Risks to Animal Species Under Study......Page 129 Management of Risks to Human Health: Animal Sentinels as Surrogates......Page 130 SUMMARY......Page 131 7 Selection and Application of Animal Sentinel Systems in Risk Assessment......Page 134 SYSTEM DESIGN......Page 136 IMPLEMENTATION......Page 139 VALIDATION......Page 141 PROGRAM INTEGRATION......Page 142 8 Conclusions and Recommendations......Page 144 References......Page 150 Appendix Workshop Participants......Page 172 Presents an overview of animal-monitoring programs, including case studies of how animal health problems have led researchers to the sources of human health hazards. This book examines the components and characteristics required for an effective animal-monitoring program, and evaluate programs, including in situ research.