June 2009
Front Matter
Training
27
Air Toxics
Overview (3 of 3)
•How are people exposed to air toxics?
–Breathing contaminated air.
–Eating contaminated food products, such as fish from contaminated waters; meat, milk, or eggs from animals that feed on contaminated plants; and fruits and vegetables grown in contaminated soil on which air toxics have been deposited.
–Drinking water contaminated by toxic air pollutants.
–Ingesting contaminated soil.
–Touching contaminated soil, dust, or water.
–Accumulating some persistent toxic air pollutants in body tissues after toxic air pollutants have entered the body. Predators typically accumulate even greater pollutant concentrations than their contaminated prey. As a result, people and other animals at the top of the food chain who eat contaminated fish or meat are exposed to concentrations that are much higher than the concentrations in the water, air, or soil.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2007c, g)