Human Health Risk Sciences

Defensible Science for Chemical Exposure, Health & Regulatory Decisions

RHP integrates exposure science, toxicology, and epidemiology to evaluate potential human health risks, delivering objective, scientifically rigorous insights that withstand regulatory and legal scrutiny.

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3 Disciplines
Exposure Science, Toxicology & Epidemiology, fully integrated
40+ Years
Combined senior scientist expertise on staff
Regulatory-Ready
Science built to withstand legal & agency scrutiny
A2LA Accredited
In-house Exposure Sciences Laboratory (ESL)

Key Takeaways

Integrated Science

RHP integrates exposure science, toxicology, and epidemiology to evaluate potential human health risks from chemical exposures.

Defensible Analyses

Our scientists develop defensible scientific analyses that support regulatory decisions, product stewardship, and litigation.

Multidisciplinary Expertise

RHP evaluates human health hazards, quantifies exposures, and characterizes potential risk across the full product lifecycle.

Objective Insights

Clients rely on RHP for objective, scientifically rigorous insights that withstand regulatory and legal scrutiny.

Explore Our Human Health Risk Sciences Practice

Select an area below to jump directly to that discipline.

How RHP’s Human Health Risk Sciences Supports Clients

  • Integrated evaluations of potential human health risks across exposure science, toxicology, and epidemiology.
  • Assessment of chemical hazards and exposure pathways across occupational, environmental, and consumer settings.
  • Development of defensible exposure and risk data to support regulatory decisions and product stewardship.
  • Scientific analyses and expert support for regulatory, litigation, and public health decisions.

Integrated Science to Evaluate Chemical Risks and Support Regulatory, Legal, and Corporate Decision-Making

RHP supports clients across industry, government, and legal sectors by translating complex scientific evidence into clear insights that withstand scrutiny from regulators, courts, and scientific peers.

Organizations evaluate potential human health risks from chemical exposures across manufacturing, consumer product use, and environmental pathways. Addressing these challenges requires defensible science that integrates exposure data, toxicological evidence, and epidemiologic research.

RHP’s Human Health Risk Sciences (HHRS) practice combines expertise in exposure science, toxicology, epidemiology, and risk assessment to evaluate hazards, quantify exposures, and characterize potential human health risk.

Our multidisciplinary teams apply scientifically accepted methods to develop reliable data and evidence-based conclusions, including:

  • Exposure modeling
  • Environmental sampling
  • Laboratory testing
  • Dose-response analysis
  • Systematic review & hazard characterization
  • Benchmark dose modeling
  • PBPK modeling
  • Risk characterization & communication

Meet Our Experts

Debra A. Kaden, PhD, ATS
Debra A. Kaden, PhD, ATS
Principal Toxicologist
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Melanie Buser, PhD, DABT, MPH
Melanie Buser, PhD, DABT, MPH
Senior Associate
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Integrated Human Health Risk Science

Understanding potential human health risks requires evaluating multiple lines of scientific evidence. RHP integrates three core disciplines to provide comprehensive assessments of potential human health risks.

Exposure Sciences

RHP scientists measure and model real-world chemical exposures in occupational, environmental, and consumer settings. Using laboratory testing, monitoring, and exposure modeling, we quantify exposures and reconstruct historical scenarios to support risk assessments and regulatory decisions.

Toxicology & Epidemiology

Our scientists evaluate toxicological and epidemiologic evidence to determine whether chemical exposures can cause adverse health effects and to assess the strength of exposure-disease relationships, supporting hazard identification, dose-response evaluation, and causation assessments.

Product Stewardship

RHP supports product safety and regulatory compliance by evaluating chemical risks throughout the product lifecycle. Our scientists assess exposure potential, toxicological hazards, and regulatory requirements to help organizations develop safer products and manage emerging chemical risks.

Case Studies

Exposure Sciences

Conventional vs. New Technologies for Evaluating Engineering Controls Through the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic and Beyond

RHP conducted an internal research study investigating and replicating installation and performance of needlepoint bi-polar ionization (NPBI) air purification technology in real-world, as-installed environments.

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Exposure Sciences

Cleaning and Disinfecting Efficiency Study

Using ATP bioluminescence and RT-qPCR methods, RHP evaluated cleaning procedure effectiveness across simulated exposure scenarios to assess hygiene intervention performance in the workplace.

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Exposure Sciences

Respirator Fit Capability for Negative-Pressure Half-Facepiece Particulate Respirators (ASTM F3407-21)

RHP examines the ASTM F3407-20/21 Standard Test Method, which provides increased assurance that respirators can effectively fit a range of face shapes and sizes when fit tested per 29 CFR 1910.134.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Learn more about human health risk assessment and how RHP’s integrated approach can support your organization.

What is a human health risk assessment?

A human health risk assessment is a systematic evaluation of how a chemical or other hazard may affect people under specific exposure conditions. It combines hazard identification, exposure assessment, dose-response analysis, and risk characterization to estimate potential health risks and support regulatory, product, public health, or legal decisions.

What Are the Steps in a Human Health Risk Assessment?

A human health risk assessment typically follows four steps:

  1. Hazard identification: determine whether an agent can cause an adverse health effect.
  2. Dose-response assessment: evaluate how the likelihood or severity of an effect changes with dose.
  3. Exposure assessment: estimate who may be exposed, by which route, and at what level.
  4. Risk characterization: combine the evidence to describe potential risk and uncertainty.
What Is the Difference Between Hazard and Risk?

A hazard is the inherent ability of an agent to cause harm. Risk is the likelihood and potential magnitude of harm under particular exposure conditions. A sound human health risk assessment considers both: it evaluates what an agent can do, then examines who may encounter it, at what dose, for how long, and through which route.

What Types of Exposure Are Evaluated?

Human health risk assessments may evaluate exposure in several settings:

  • Occupational exposure during manufacturing, handling, or maintenance
  • Environmental exposure through air, water, soil, or consumer pathways
  • Consumer exposure during normal or foreseeable product use
  • Historical exposure reconstructed from records, models, and scientific evidence

Recent News & Insights

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Get In Touch

Contact RHP experts to reduce uncertainty and enable confidence in decision-making by delivering reliable, reproducible, and relevant data. Through early and active stakeholder engagement, we provide customized solutions that support clients with their specific goals.

Call RHP at (866) 481-8188