EPA use of in vivo germ cell mutagenicity data

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) provides the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Toxic Substances (EPA, OTS) with the authority to regulate chemical use by requiring testing and use restrictions as appropriate to protect human health. Regulation on the basis of heritable mutation induction is specifically mentioned in the Test Rule section of the law and has also been pursued for new chemical substances. A tiered scheme of mutagenicity testing has been employed and recently revised to assess mutagenicity hazard. In vivo assay systems play key roles at all three levels in the scheme, beginning with the first level of determining intrinsic mutagenicity hazard. Once intrinsic mutagenicity has been identified, the revised scheme requires an assay or assays to assess chemical interaction with gonadal DNA. Finally, the scheme contains tests that permit risk assessment for a chemical. The recently-revised Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) mutagenicity testing requirements closely parallel those of OTS.