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Document ID ca-cefuhhra-2025-03-05 Title Canadian exposure factors used in human health risk assessments URL https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/chemical-substances/fact-sheets/canadian-exposure-factors-human-health-risk-assessments.html Jurisdiction /ca Subdomain(s) Drinking water, Regulatory compliance, monitoring and reporting Language en Status completed Analyzed at 2026-03-19 09:00:23.323204+00:00 Relevance Defines default exposure factors, including water intake, for risk assessments.

3 Qualitative 29 Quantitative 12 Definitions

Q Qualitative Requirements (3)

Req ID	Category	Intent	Legal Status	Name	Subdomain(s)	Context	Conditions	Confidence
#Q001	operational	operational	guidance	Use of Standard Default Values for Consistency	drinking water, other	In order to estimate human exposure to a substance, scientists use standard default values for receptor (the receptor is the person) characteristics, such as body weight, body surface area, inhalation rates, ingestion of dust and soil, and drinking water consumption to ensure consistency of approach.	When estimating human exposure to a chemical substance	low
#Q002	administrative	operational	guideline	Separate Exposure Calculations by Age Group	other	Estimates of exposure of the Canadian general population to priority substances assessed under CEPA are calculated separately for defined stages of life or age groups.	When assessing priority substances under CEPA	low
#Q003	operational	operational	guideline	Infant Drinking Water Volume Assumption	drinking water	For ages less than 1-year-old (infants 0 to 5 months and 6 to 11 months old), it is assumed that the drinking water volume is equivalent to the volume of intake of reconstituted (or ready-made) formula.	When assessing drinking water intake for infants aged 0 to 11 months	low

P Quantitative Requirements (29)

Req ID	Category	Intent	Legal Status	Name	Subdomain(s)	Limit Type	Limit Value	Context	Conditions	Confidence
#P001	unknown	health	guidance	Default body weight	other	unknown	6.3 kg	Body weight values used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	0 to 5 months	high
#P002	unknown	health	guidance	Default body weight	other	unknown	9.1 kg	Body weight values used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	6 to 11 months	high
#P003	unknown	health	guidance	Default body weight	other	unknown	11 kg	Body weight values used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	1 year	high
#P004	unknown	health	guidance	Default body weight	other	unknown	15 kg	Body weight values used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	2 to 3 years	high
#P005	unknown	health	guidance	Default body weight	other	unknown	23 kg	Body weight values used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	4 to 8 years	high
#P006	unknown	health	guidance	Default body weight	other	unknown	42 kg	Body weight values used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	9 to 13 years	high
#P007	unknown	health	guidance	Default body weight	other	unknown	62 kg	Body weight values used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	14 to 18 years	high
#P008	unknown	health	guidance	Default body weight	other	unknown	74 kg	Body weight values used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	≥ 19 years	high
#P009	unknown	health	guidance	Drinking water intake	drinking water	unknown	0.83 L/day	Drinking water intakes used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA.	0 to 5 months	high
#P010	unknown	health	guidance	Drinking water intake	drinking water	unknown	0.76 L/day	Drinking water intakes used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA.	6 to 11 months	high
#P011	unknown	health	guidance	Drinking water intake	drinking water	unknown	0.36 L/day	Drinking water intakes used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA.	1 year	high
#P012	unknown	health	guidance	Drinking water intake	drinking water	unknown	0.43 L/day	Drinking water intakes used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA.	2 to 3 years	high
#P013	unknown	health	guidance	Drinking water intake	drinking water	unknown	0.53 L/day	Drinking water intakes used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA.	4 to 8 years	high
#P014	unknown	health	guidance	Drinking water intake	drinking water	unknown	0.74 L/day	Drinking water intakes used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA.	9 to 13 years	high
#P015	unknown	health	guidance	Drinking water intake	drinking water	unknown	1.09 L/day	Drinking water intakes used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA.	14 to 18 years	high
#P016	unknown	health	guidance	Drinking water intake	drinking water	unknown	1.53 L/day	Drinking water intakes used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA.	≥ 19 years	high
#P017	physical	health	guidance	Total body surface area	other	requirement	3500 cm2	Body surface areas used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	0 to 5 months	high
#P018	physical	health	guidance	Head surface area	other	requirement	640 cm2	Body surface areas used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	0 to 5 months	high
#P019	physical	health	guidance	Trunk surface area	other	requirement	1250 cm2	Body surface areas used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	0 to 5 months	high
#P020	physical	health	guidance	Arms surface area	other	requirement	480 cm2	Body surface areas used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	0 to 5 months	high
#P021	physical	health	guidance	Hands surface area	other	requirement	190 cm2	Body surface areas used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	0 to 5 months	high
#P022	physical	health	guidance	Legs surface area	other	requirement	720 cm2	Body surface areas used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	0 to 5 months	high
#P023	physical	health	guidance	Feet surface area	other	requirement	230 cm2	Body surface areas used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	0 to 5 months	high
#P024	physical	health	guidance	Inhalation rate	other	requirement	3.7 m3/day	Inhalation rates used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	0 to 5 months	high
#P025	physical	health	guidance	Soil ingestion rate	other	requirement	0 mg/day	Soil and dust ingestion rates used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	0 to 5 months	high
#P026	physical	health	guidance	Dust ingestion rate	other	requirement	21.6 mg/day	Soil and dust ingestion rates used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	0 to 5 months	high
#P027	physical	health	guidance	Inhalation rate	other	requirement	15.1 m3/day	Inhalation rates used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	>= 19 years	high
#P028	physical	health	guidance	Soil ingestion rate	other	requirement	1.6 mg/day	Soil and dust ingestion rates used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	>= 19 years	high
#P029	physical	health	guidance	Dust ingestion rate	other	requirement	2.6 mg/day	Soil and dust ingestion rates used in assessments of human exposure conducted under CEPA	>= 19 years	high

D Definitions (12)

Req ID	Name	Context	Confidence
#D001	receptor	the receptor is the person	high
#D002	geophagy	Intentional ingestion of large amounts of soil or clay	medium
#D003	Drinking water	Drinking water is defined as water consumed from the tap, bottled or sparkling water, as well as water used at home either to reconstitute a beverage (such as coffee, tea and iced tea, juices, fruit drinks, alcoholic beverages) or added to food for final preparation (for example, soups).	high
#D004	CEPA	Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999	high
#D005	CCHS	Canadian Community Health Survey	high
#D006	geophagy	Intentional ingestion of large amounts of soil or clay	high
#D007	Drinking water	Drinking water is defined as water consumed from the tap, bottled or sparkling water, as well as water used at home either to reconstitute a beverage (such as coffee, tea and iced tea, juices, fruit drinks, alcoholic beverages) or added to food for final preparation (for example, soups).	high
#D008	surrogate	substitute	high
#D009	NHANES	National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey	high
#D010	EPA	Environmental Protection Agency	high
#D011	mechanistic	a type of mathematical calculation	high
#D012	n/a	not applicable	high