Characteristics and capabilities of U.S. commercial toxicological testing laboratories

About 800 commercial chemical testing laboratories were surveyed by telephone to determine how many provide toxicological testing services and what characteristics the toxicological testing laboratories portrayed. The survey identified 274 laboratories that performed toxicological testing in 1981. These are estimated to account for 94 to 98% of the toxicology laboratory population. The survey data provided a general profile of these laboratories, showed the number of laboratories capable of performing different types of tests, indicated the amount of excess capacity, and identified the most critical constraints to future expansion of testing. There were an estimated 180 laboratories providing mammalian toxicological tests, 150 providing in vitro tests, 150 providing environmental effects tests, and 140 providing chemical fate tests. At the time of the survey, the industry appeared able to do about 20% additional testing before reaching capacity.