Agents

 

Agents are the basis of the OccIDEAS system. An agent is a chemical, physical or other exposure that may occur at work. We have a wide range of agents already in OccIDEAS and we are continually adding more. Examples of agents are: chemicals such as asbestos or benzene; mixtures such as diesel exhaust and second hand tobacco smoke; physical agents such as ionizing radiation and sun exposure; and other factors such as shiftwork or sedentary work.

 

As for any study, you need to specify the hypotheses you would like to test. You choose the agents that you are interested in for your study, or we can help you choose. For example, your hypothesis may be that pesticides cause myeloma. The agents are therefore all the pesticide groups that we have in OccIDEAS.

 

If an agent is not already in OccIDEAS, we can add it, and the questions and rules. Or, if you have the expertise, you are free to develop your own questions and rules.

 

When we specify the agents in OccIDEAS, the system creates a set of questionnaires customized for your study so that respondents are not asked irrelevant questions. So for the myeloma question above, only questions directly relating to pesticides are retained in the questionnaires.

 

Currently we can assess the following agents and more are being added every day: