Chemical Safety Assessment Using Read-Across: Assessing the Use of Novel Testing Methods to Strengthen the Evidence...

Area of Science:

• Toxicology
• Computational Chemistry
• In vitro assays

Background:

• Repeated dose toxicity assessment is a major hurdle in replacing animal testing.
• The SEURAT-1 initiative, a large EU research project, aims to develop alternative testing strategies.
• This review consolidates expert discussions on advancing traditional read-across with new approach data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a strategy for chemical read-across that integrates new approach data with traditional methods.
• To enhance the regulatory acceptance of read-across assessments for chemical safety.
• To demonstrate how in vitro screening, omics assays, and computational models can strengthen read-across.

Main Methods:

• Identified four distinct read-across scenarios relevant to human health assessment.
• Proposed example chemical groups for each scenario to illustrate read-across feasibility.
• Considered both chemical and biological similarities for read-across validation.

Main Results:

• The strategy focuses on strengthening traditional read-across using novel data sources.
• New approach methodologies provide crucial supporting evidence for read-across validity.
• The integration aims to achieve greater confidence in safety assessments.

Conclusions:

• A complete read-across exercise will be conducted for at least one chemical category per scenario within SEURAT-1.
• Results of the read-across exercise are expected by December 2015.
• The initiative seeks to establish a robust framework for alternative toxicity testing.