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Free access platforms for integrating environmental chemical exposure and hazard information
Citation:
Tan, C., J. Leonard, J. Wambaugh, K. Isaacs, Dan Villeneuve, C. LaLone, S. Edwards, A. Williams, AND Chris Grulke. Free access platforms for integrating environmental chemical exposure and hazard information. EuroTox 2018, Brussels, BELGIUM, September 02 - 05, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
The EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) has a number of ongoing projects which generate exposure and hazard measurements and predictions. These data may be useful in supporting ongoing implementation of the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). ORD has recently developed the Computational Toxicology (CompTox) Chemistry Dashboard for dissemination of high-quality curated chemical structures, physicochemical properties, and hazard/exposure-related data. The CompTox Chemistry dashboard includes measured and predicted properties for over 700,000 chemicals. In addition to the CompTox Chemistry Dashboard, other freely accessible tools, such as Ecotoxicology (ECOTOX) Knowledgebase, Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) Wiki, and the Sequence Alignment to Predict Across Species Susceptibility (SeqAPASS) all contribute to the efforts that support amended TSCA.
Description:
Numerous free access platforms have been developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, to provide organized data that inform chemical hazard and exposure. For example, the CompTox Chemistry Dashboard provides public access to data associated with ~760,000 chemical substances. Those data include chemical structures, physicochemical properties, in vitro and in vivo toxicity testing results (e.g., those from the Toxicity Forecaster [ToxCast]), and information that can be used to parameterize exposure models (e.g., source or functional use). The Chemistry Dashboard also links to other Agency applications, such as an R package for high-throughput toxicokinetics, and external databases like PubChem. Similarly, the Ecotoxicology (ECOTOX) Knowledgebase integrates information from three individual databases (spanning aquatic, terrestrial, and plant toxicology) to provide a free access tool capable of being queried by chemical identifier (e.g., names), species, or toxicological endpoint. These chemical-centric platforms are complemented by biology-focused platforms, such as the Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) Wiki and the Sequence Alignment to Predict Across Species Susceptibility (SeqAPASS). The AOP Wiki acts as one of the modules contained within the AOP Knowledgebase and offers a widget-based format that provides users with the ability to develop new AOPs or to query and expand upon existing ones. The potential differences in adverse outcomes seen across species cannot be overlooked, so it is critical to determine whether such differences exist. Thus, the SeqAPASS tool was developed to evaluate conservation of protein sequences and structure across species as a means to predict species differences in sensitivity and susceptibility to chemical exposures. Both the AOP Wiki and SeqAPASS are linked to the Chemistry Dashboard. This talk will highlight the above tools as examples that demonstrate the Agency’s efforts to apply freely available platforms to facilitate transparent integration, organization, and communication of data in support of risk assessment strategies. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not represent Agency policy or endorsement.
