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Exposure Science for Chemical Prioritization and Toxicity Testing
Citation:
COHEN-HUBAL, E. A. Exposure Science for Chemical Prioritization and Toxicity Testing. Presented at Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, March 15 - 19, 2009.
Impact/Purpose:
The EPA Exposure Science Community of Practice (ExpoCoP) formed in May 2008 to advance application of exposure science to inform and support EPA research in computational toxicology. The goal of ExpoCoP is to provide input on the research program in exposure science to address EPA needs for chemical prioritization, screening, and toxicity testing. The ExpoCoP, with a membership representing over 15 public and private sector organizations, is focusing initially on issues associated with classifying chemicals based on potential for human exposure and linking results with ToxCast™. An important component is to consider how best to consolidate and link human exposure data for this purpose. These sorts of linkages have the potential to bring the toxicology and exposure science research communities into closer alignment and to improve risk assessment. In this presentation, potential links between research in computational toxicology and human exposure science are identified and activities of the ExpoCoP are highlighted.
Description:
Currently, a significant research effort is underway to apply new technologies to screen and prioritize chemicals for toxicity testing as well as to improve understanding of toxicity pathways (Dix et al. 2007, Toxicol Sci; NRC, 2007, Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century; Collins et al, 2008, Science). US EPA is completing the Phase I pilot for a chemical prioritization research program, called ToxCastTM. Here EPA is developing methods for using computational chemistry, high-throughput screening (HTS), and toxicogenomic technologies to predict potential toxicity and prioritize testing. These high visibility efforts in toxicity testing and computational toxicology raise important research questions and opportunities for exposure scientists. As an explosion of HTS data for in vitro toxicity assays becomes available, exposure science is required to provide the critical real-world information for interpreting these toxicity data, predicting risks and informing risk management decisions. The EPA National Center for Computational Toxicology has identified the immediate need to include exposure information for chemical prioritization.