Advances in exposure and toxicity assessment of particulate matter: an overview of presentations at the 2009 Toxicology and Risk Assessment Conference.

The 2009 Toxicology and Risk Assessment Conference (TRAC) session on "Advances in Exposure and Toxicity Assessment of Particulate Matter" was held in April 2009 in West Chester, OH. The goal of this session was to bring together toxicology, geology and risk assessment experts from the Department of Defense and academia to examine issues in exposure assessment and report on recent epidemiological findings of health effects associated with particulate matter (PM) exposure. Important aspects of PM exposure research are to detect and monitor low levels of PM with various chemical compositions and to assess the health risks associated with these exposures. As part of the overall theme, some presenters discussed collection methods for sand and dust from Iraqi and Afghanistan regions, health issues among deployed personnel, and future directions for risk assessment research among these populations. The remaining speakers focused on the toxicity of ultrafine PM and the characterization of aerosols generated during ballistic impacts of tungsten heavy alloys.