Development of a Chemical Health Risk Assessment Tool for Health Risk Assessment from Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals

Sep 21, 2026

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People are exposed to chemicals daily, and health impacts can range from disorders to fatalities depending on exposure levels. A chemical health risk assessment (CHRA) tool is developed to evaluate risk to human health from exposure to hazardous chemicals using the US-NAS risk assessment paradigm and Malaysian workplace health risk guidelines. The stand-alone, user-friendly software is built with an object-oriented Visual Basic (VB) framework and includes built-in help, permissible exposure limit data, odor thresholds, solvent drying time, and error prompts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Development of the CHRA Tool

Risk Assessment Framework

Visual Basic Implementation

Tool Features and User Support

PEL and Threshold Data

Error Handling and Help Function

Compatibility and Intended Use

| ISSN: 2574-1241 DOI: 10. 26717/BJSTR.2020.28.004669
Development of a Chemical Health Risk Assessment Tool for Health Risk Assessment from Exposure
to Hazardous Chemicals | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Mohanad El-Harbawi1*, Aira Amira Abd Raman2,3 and FahadAl-Mubaddel1,4
1Department of Chemical Engineering, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia 2Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia 3PETRONAS CarigaliSdn. Bhd., Sarawak Operations, Sarawak | | | | | 4Fellow, King Abdullah City for Renewable and Atomic Energy: Energy Research and Innovation Center, Saudi Arabia
*Corresponding author: Mohanad El-Harbawi, Department of Chemical Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11421, Saudi Arabia | | | | | ARTICLE INFO
Received: June 16, 2020
Published: June 29, 2020
Citation: Mohanad El-Harbawi, Aira Amira Abd R, FahadAl-Mubaddel. Development of a Chemical Health Risk Assessment Tool for Health Risk Assessment from Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals. Biomed J Sci & Tech Res 28(3)-2020 . BJSTR. MS.ID.004669 .
Keywords: Hazardous Chemicals; Human Health; Risk Assessment; Computer Tool; Visual Basic | AbsTRACT
People are exposed to chemicals on a daily basis, which can cause health disorders or even fatalities depending on their dosages. This study was conducted to develop a chemical health risk assessment (CHRA) tool to assess the risk to human health from exposure to hazardous chemicals. For developing this tool, the United States’ National Academy of Sciences (US-NAS) risk assessment paradigm and the Malaysian standards and regulations (guidelines for the assessment of the health risks arising from the use of hazardous chemicals in the workplace) were used as a framework for estimating the risk from exposure to hazardous chemicals. The computer program is written and designed within an object-oriented framework using Visual Basic (VB) programming language. The tool is designed to work as a stand-alone user-friendly software. Moreover, this tool is supported with some useful options such as data for permissible exposure limit (PEL) for common chemicals, odor level thresholds, and solvent drying time to provide users with some knowledge about the materials. Furthermore, it hasan internal help function to assist users on how to use the tool. The software is also designed in such a manner that whenever the user makes a mistake while using the application, an error message will be prompted on the fault. This makes the CHRA tool easy for users to identify the risk associated due to exposure to hazardous chemicals and assess the adequacy of the control measures. The CHRA software is designed to be compatible with all Windows operating systems. | | | | Introduction | | | | | Since the past several decades, chemicals have undoubtedly played an essential role in human activities. In addition, large quantities of chemicals have been manufactured, and currently new chemicals are still being introduced every day [1] . People are exposed daily to a variety of substances that are not hazardous under usual circumstances. However, when any substance that comes into contact with or enters the body, it becomes harmful at a certain level of exposure and can be tolerated by the human body for certain limits of exposure without causing any health effect [2,3] . | | Exposure to chemical substances can occur via ingestion, injection, and skin absorption. However, the most common route of entry in occupational and nonoccupational environments is via inhalation [2,4,5] . Although an appropriate usage of chemical substances has significantly contributed toward improving our quality of life, their misuse may cause serious health problems and even death. During the past several decades, there have been a series of major accidents worldwide, resulting in numerous deaths, economic losses, and environmental damage. Human exposure to a variety of | | Copyright@ Mohanad El-Harbawi | Biomed J

FAQs

What is the purpose of the CHRA tool described in the document?

The CHRA tool is designed to assess risk to human health from exposure to hazardous chemicals, helping users identify associated health risk and the adequacy of control measures.

What framework and standards are used to develop the risk assessment approach?

The tool uses the United States’ National Academy of Sciences (US-NAS) risk assessment paradigm and Malaysian workplace health risk assessment guidelines and regulations.

Which programming language and software structure are used to build the tool?

The computer program is written in an object-oriented framework using Visual Basic (VB) and is designed as stand-alone user-friendly software.

Sep 21, 2026

Upload by Adam