Typical hazards

Whether illness or disease actually occurs will depend on:

• the extent of exposure to a substance
• the route of exposure
• whether a person is exposed to other hazardous substances
• the person's own sensitivity to the substance.

The route of exposure is the way a hazardous substance gets into a person's body. The most common ways are:

• breathing in the substance (inhalation of dusts, vapours, sprays or mists)
• absorption through skin contact.

Hazardous substances can also be accidentally swallowed or ingested (by eating or smoking with contaminated hands) or absorbed via splashes to the eyes.