Human Exposure Pathways - Dealing with Contaminated Sites: From Theory Towards Practical Application - page 458

The dermal contact pathway differs slightly in that intake of the contaminant
from the contact medium into the blood stream takes place directly across the skin.
The procedures used to calculate exposure and the derivation of input parameters
differ between the different exposure pathways and have been described in detail
in the Sections 11.2 - 11.7 . In these Sections, general information and mathematical
equations are given. Since exposure models can differ substantially with regard to
model algorithms and input parameters (see Swartjes ( 2007 ) who compared seven
European exposure models), examples of mathematical equations are given that
generally relate to specific models.
11.2 Exposure Through Consumption of Vegetables
11.2.1 Significance
Human exposure through consumption of vegetables is potentially significant,
since contaminants from soil can be taken up and subsequently bioaccumulate in
vegetables which are consumed by humans (see Fig. 11.1 ).
The relevance of the exposure pathway “exposure through vegetable consump-
tion” depends on the land use. Obviously, this pathway is important for the land
uses where vegetable consumption is possible, i.e., residential sites, vegetable gar-
dens, and agricultural sites. Vegetables are often grown on contaminated sites, e.g.,
in city gardens in former industrial or agricultural areas, or in vegetable gardens
along railroad tracks. For these reasons, this pathway is included in almost all
European exposure models (Carlon and Swartjes 2007 ), for example in the Dutch
Fig. 11.1 Schematic representation of uptake of contaminants in vegetables and exposure of
humans through consumption of these vegetables