Open Access Article

Title: Implementing toxicity testing in the 21st century: challenges and opportunities

Authors: Paul A. Locke; Margit Westphal; Joyce Tischler; Kathy Hessler; Pamela Frasch; Bruce Myers; Daniel Krewski

Addresses: Department of Environmental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA ' McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, 1 Stewart St., Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada ' Animal Legal Defense Fund, 170 E. Cotati Avenue, Cotati, California 94931, USA ' Center for Animal Law Studies, Lewis & Clark Law School, 10015 SW Terwilliger Blvd., Portland, Oregon 97217, USA ' Center for Animal Law Studies, Lewis & Clark Law School, 10015 SW Terwilliger Blvd., Portland, Oregon 97217, USA ' Animals ' Environment PLLC, 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20009, USA ' McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, 850 Peter Morand, Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 3Z7, Canada; Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 8M5, Canada; Risk Sciences International, 55 Metcalfe Street, Suite 700, Ottawa, ON K1P 6L5, Canada

Abstract: The publication of the US National Academy of Sciences report Toxicity Testing in the Twenty-First Century: A Vision and a Strategy (TT21C) has led to the development of new scientific techniques to modernise regulatory toxicity testing. From 2009 to 2010, a series of five international symposia were held to examine challenges, opportunities and policy issues associated with TT21C. Seven key themes emerged based on these meetings; that the TT21C vision and strategy: 1) is not self-implementing; 2) demands new toxicology techniques; 3) has a number of scientific knowledge gaps that need to be filled; 4) requires evaluation of the new tests to determine relevance, reliability, validity and regulatory acceptance by government agencies; 5) can be implemented under TSCA and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) as currently written; 6) requires multi-stakeholder input and commitment; 7) should harmonise acceptance of test data and methods on an international level.

Keywords: toxicity testing; risk assessment; risk management; toxicity pathways; Toxic Substances Control Act; TSCA; environmental agents; REACH; EU Cosmetics Act; regulatory toxicology; FIFRA; USA; United States.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRAM.2017.082566

International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management, 2017 Vol.20 No.1/2/3, pp.198 - 225

Received: 18 Jan 2016
Accepted: 19 Jan 2016

Published online: 01 Mar 2017 *