How Hormesis will Change the Risk Assessment Process

The dose–response relationship is the central concept of toxicology and the risk assessment process in environmental health. Recent findings indicate that the principal dose–response models (i.e., threshold and linear at low doses) used by environmental agencies fail to accurately predict responses to toxic chemicals in the critical low-dose zone. By contrast, the hormetic dose response accurately predicted responses during the same testing scheme. Given the importance of the dose response in environmental health, this article summarizes the basis of hormetic dose response, its quantitative features, and the implications for any risk assessment process.