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Navigating through the minefield of read-across tools: A review of in silico tools for grouping
Citation:
Patlewicz, G., G. Helman, P. Pradeep, AND I. Shah. Navigating through the minefield of read-across tools: A review of in silico tools for grouping. Computational Toxicology. Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, Netherlands, 3:1-18, (2017).
Impact/Purpose:
• Agency Research Drivers - U.S. EPA programs and regions are often tasked with addressing the potential hazard(s) of chemicals for which little-to-no data exist. In such contexts, one approach often used is read-across, where toxicity is inferred from data on chemical analogues. • Science Challenge – Current read-across methods are driven by expert judgement, both in terms of chemical analogue selection and data interpretation. Therefore, application of read-across approaches to chemical regulation is limited by potential lack of objectivity and clarity about how to address uncertainties. • Research Approach – This review article describes a number of publicly available read-across tools in the context of the analogue workflow to better articulate their respective capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. • Results – No single tool addresses all aspects of the workflow. The review highlights how the different tools can complement each other and what some of the opportunities for their further development could be to address the continued evolution of read-across. • Anticipated Impact/Expected use – This review characterizes a number of publically available tools and is a first step to developing read-across predictions for new untested chemicals.
Description:
Read-across is a popular data gap filling technique used within analogue and category approaches for regulatory purposes. In recent years there have been many efforts focused on the challenges involved in read-across development, its scientific justification and documentation. Tools have also been developed to facilitate read-across development and application. Here, we describe a number of publicly available read-across tools in the context of the category/analogue workflow to better articulate their respective capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. No single tool addresses all aspects of the workflow. We highlight how the different tools can complement each other and what some of the opportunities for their further development could be to address the continued evolution of read-across.
