Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist.
New approaches for evaluating chemical hazard and risk are needed to help address substantial data gaps that exist for the thousands of chemicals currently in the marketplace as well as those yet to be introduced. EPA has been investing significant resources to create research programs dedicated to advancing new types of chemical testing and assessment approaches. But what exactly are these approaches? How might they improve the practice of risk assessment? Are they appropriate for decision-making, and if so, what kinds of decision making? What role does the public interest community have to play?
To explore these and other important issues, EDF’s Health Program has launched a website, “Chemical Testing in the 21st Century,” that provides an introduction to these new approaches and the programs the EPA has built around them—including their potential uses, benefits and limitations. The website includes the following informational resources:
- Chemical Testing in the 21st Century: A Primer – An introduction to EPA’s Computational Toxicology (CompTox) research initiative and its component programs, such as ToxCast; a discussion of the opportunities and challenges of these new testing programs; and a discussion of issues and needs for greater engagement by the public interest community.
- Chemical Testing in the 21st Century: Webinar Series – Linked audio and video recordings of each of EDF’s three webinars (held in October) featuring EDF and EPA scientists exploring the basics of EPA’s new testing programs and the promises and challenges they present.
We will soon be adding a page with descriptions of and links to additional resources.
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