Advancing exposure characterization for chemical evaluation and risk assessment

Area of Science:

• Exposure science
• Computational toxicology
• Risk assessment

Background:

• Emerging scientific tools enable rapid measurement of cellular, tissue, and organismal responses to chemical exposures.
• High-throughput screening (HTS) generates vast in vitro toxicity data, necessitating translation for human health risk assessment.
• Characterizing environmental chemicals is crucial for prioritizing testing and assessing human health risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a translation framework integrating toxicity and exposure data for public health decision-making.
• To highlight the role of exposure science in linking environmental contaminants to health outcomes.
• To introduce the ExpoCast program for screening chemicals based on human exposure potential.

Main Methods:

• Development of a translation framework for incorporating toxicity and exposure information.
• Application of exposure science tools to model source-to-outcome pathways.
• Introduction of the ExpoCast program for chemical evaluation and exposure assessment.

Main Results:

• A framework is presented to translate HTS toxicity data with exposure information for risk assessment.
• Early advances in tools for modeling exposure pathways are demonstrated.
• The ExpoCast program is introduced to screen chemicals based on biologically relevant human exposures.

Conclusions:

• Integrating toxicity and exposure data is essential for rapid risk assessment and public health decisions.
• Exposure science plays a critical role in evaluating chemical risks.
• The ExpoCast program aims to advance exposure characterization for computational toxicology and risk assessment.