| Contact Mary Bryant, RiskWorld staff, e-mail bryant@tec-com.com. |
| Assessing Cumulative Risk |
| The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Pesticide Programs has posted a web site that provides information about its new framework for conducting cumulative risk assessments for the organophosphates (OPs) and other pesticides that have a common mechanism of toxicity (i.e., that act in the same way in the body) and about the various meetings and comment opportunities available to the public during this process. (Posted August 2001.) |
| http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/cumulative/ |
| Canadian Network of Toxicology Centres |
| The Canadian Network of Toxicology Centres is recognized and respected internationally for excellence in research, training, and analysis and communication of information on critical toxicology issues for ecosystem and human health. This expertise is achieved through innovative, multi-disciplinary research, teamwork and partnerships between many Canadia public and private industry sectors. CNTC is a network of collaborating institutions which includes participants from academia, government and industry. The Network conducts environmental and human health related research along with well articulated and planned themes of interdisciplinary research. Implicit in the CNTC approach is a commitment to joint, interactive efforts, centralized planning, project accountability for both intellectual and financial objectives and regular reporting of progress beyond the usual publication in scientific journals. (Posted January 19, 2000.) |
| http://www.uoguelph.ca/cntc/ |
| Center for Environmental & Human Toxicology |
|
The Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology serves as the focal point
at the University of Florida for activities concerning the effects of
chemicals on human and animal health. The Center serves as an interface between basic research and its application for evaluation of human health and environmental risks. This interface includes an educational component to transfer this knowledge to producers, consumers, and regulators. The research and teaching activities of the Center provide a resource for the State of Florida to identify and reduce risks associated with environmental pollution, food contamination, and workplace hazards. Development and improvement of risk assessment methods as well as toxicity testing and elucidation of mechanisms of action of chemical-induced adverse health effects are all activities of the Center that serve as resources for the State of Florida and the nation. The Center provides a forum for the discussion of specific and general problems concerning the potential adverse human health effects associated with chemical exposure. Using the interpretive skills of scientists and clinicians from various health disciplines, better decisions can be made for the protection of public health. (Posted February 11, 2000.) |
| http://www.floridatox.org |
|
This on-line searchable directory of chemical suppliers enables buyers to easily source manufacturers for capacity and price of commodity and specialty chemicals by name or CAS registry number. Site includes free magazine offers, jobs, news, and events. (Posted February 2005.) |
| http://www.chemicalregister.com/ |
| ChemIndustry.com |
| A leading comprehensive category-based search engine for the chemical and allied industry, ChemIndustry.com provides chemical and allied industry professionals an efficient tool for locating information, products, and services that are available via the World Wide Web. A team of industry experts serve as editors to categorize and classify Web sites submitted for registration, to edit registration descriptions so they will yield appropriate results to search queries, and to provide advanced advice and guidance for difficult searches. (Posted April 2000.) |
| http://www.chemindustry.com/ |
|
Computational
Toxicology U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| Recent advances in the young field of computational biology are helping scientists develop a more detailed understanding of the risks posed by a large number of chemicals. The application of computational biology tools to assess human health environmental risks posed by chemicals is called computational toxicology. The research program at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency currently uses many computational and biological approaches that fall under the general area of computational toxicology to improve its prioritization of data requirements and risk assessments for toxic chemicals. Examples of such work are described in this website. The goal of EPA's research program on computational toxicology is to better understand the relationships between sources of environmental pollutant exposure and adverse outcomes. (Posted August 2004.) |
| http://www.epa.gov/comptox/ |
|
Exposure Assessment
Tools and Models |
| The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) has developed several exposure assessment methods, databases, and predictive models to help scientists and engineers familiar with exposure assessment principles in evaluating what happens to chemicals when they are used and released to the environment and how workers, the general public, consumers and the aquatic ecosystems may be exposed to chemicals. These models and tools include Chemical Screening Tool for Exposures & Environmental Releases (ChemSTEER); Exposure, Fate Assessment Screening Tool (E-FAST); Graphical Exposure Modeling Systems (GEMS); Multi-Chamber Concentration and Exposure Model (MCCEM); ReachScan; Source Ranking Database; Use Clusters Scoring System (UCSS); and Wall Paint Exposure Assessment Model (WPEM). While all will eventually be available from the OPPT web site, only E-FAST and MCCEM are available to download at this time (June 2000). (Posted June 2000.) |
| http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/exposure/ |
| ICTM delivers an unparalleled combination of expertise in medicine, toxicology and environmental and occupational health and sciences. The ICTM team is lead by professors and other practicing scientists -- all contributors to leading scientific publications. ICTM principals have been in the forefront of developing causal inference methodology to assess relationships between health disturbances and exposure to drugs and chemicals. Their clinical researchers helped define modern clinical evaluation methods for injuries claimed from toxic exposure. They combine scientific experience with proven case development methodologies to provide unbiased cost-efficient analysis. (Posted January 14, 2000.) |
| http://www.ictm.com/ |
| Isocyanates |
| The National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety has published an on-line safety and health topic page on isocyanates, a family of highly reactive, low molecular weight chemicals that are widely used in the manufacture of flexible and rigid foams, fibers, coatings such as paints and varnishes, and elastomers and are increasingly used in the automobile industry, auto-body repair, and building insulation materials. Isocyanates are powerful irritants to the mucous membranes of the eyes and gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts. (Posted January 22, 2004.) |
| http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/isocyanates/ |
|
This cooperative service of Oregon State University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides objective, science-based information about pesticide-related subjects, including pesticide products, recognition and management of pesticide poisoning, toxicology, and environmental chemistry. The network is a source of factual chemical, health, and environmental information about more than 600 pesticide active ingredients incorporated into over 50,000 different products registered for use in the United States since 1947. NPTN operates 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, 7 days a week, excluding holidays; accepts calls toll free from the United States, Puerto Rico, or the Virgin Islands; and responds to written requests (see contact information). NPTN also hosts the National Antimicrobial Information Network, a toll-free telephone service that responds by telephone or mail to information requests about antimicrobial products--sanitizers, disinfectants, and sterilants. (Posted October 2000.) |
| http://ace.orst.edu/info/nptn/ |
| California's voters passed Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, which addressed citizens' concerns about exposure to substances "known to the state to cause cancer and reproductive toxicity." The law prohibits businesses from discharging such chemicals into sources of drinking water and requires that warnings be given to individuals exposed to them. This web, developed and maintained by Jeffrey B. Margulies of the Haight, Brown & Bonesteel law firm, provides a general overview of the act, links to other Prop 65 sites and documents, and current developments in the legislative, regulatory, and litigation fields. (Posted February 2000.) |
| http://www.calprop65.com/ |
|
Reporting
on Risk |
| The purpose of this primer is to
give the reporter an understanding of how risk assessment is currently
practiced and publicized. It is intended to enable the journalist to sort
through the numbers and scientific terminology to detect whether they are
getting the whole story and to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a
study. The ultimate goal is to improve public understanding and
decision-making regarding environmental risks. In this handbook, risk
assessment refers to the process of estimating the type and magnitude of
risk to human health posed by exposure to chemical substances; however,
many of the principles of risk assessment described also apply to
measuring other forms of risk. The handbook also includes chapters on
exposure assessment, toxicity assessment, epidemiology, and risk
communication.
The independent, nonprofit institution Foundation for American Communications, which provides the knowledge and resources journalists and their sources need to effectively communicate information to the public through the news, and National Sea Grant College Program, which encourages the wise stewardship of marine resources, produced this handbook. (Posted February 2000.) |
| http://www.facsnet.org/report_tools/guides_primers/risk/ |
| Founded in 1961, this professional and scholarly organization of scientists who practice toxicology promotes the acquisition and utilization of knowledge in toxicology, aids in the protection of public health, facilitates disciplines, and has a strong commitment to education in toxicology and to the recruitment of students and new members into the profession. The society deals with risk assessment issues through several of its specialty sections and through an appointed committee named Task Force to Improve the Scientific Basis of Risk Assessment. (Posted March 2000.) |
| http://www.toxicology.org/ |
| One of the Society of Toxicology's official journals and fully owned and financed by the society, Toxicological Sciences publishes research articles 12 times a year that are broadly relevant to assessing the potential adverse health effects resulting from exposure of human or animals to chemicals, drugs, natural products, or synthetic materials. Manuscripts are published in all areas of toxicology, both descriptive and mechanistic, as well as interpretive or theoretical investigations that elucidate the risk assessment implications of exposure to toxic agents alone or in combination. Beginning January 1, 1999, Toxicological Sciences became available on line free to the public and is published by Oxford University Press. (Posted March 2000.) |
| http://toxsci.oupjournals.org/ |
| Toxics Release Inventory |
| The TRI, a publicly accessible toxic chemical database containing information concerning waste management activities and the release of toxic chemicals by facilities that manufacture, process, or use them, was developed and is maintained by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under mandate of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (section 313) and the Pollution Prevention Act (section 6607). Using this information, citizens, businesses, and governments can work together to protect the quality of their land, air, and water. The TRI web site includes the 1998 Toxics Release Inventory Public Data Release Report, published in September 2000, which provides an overview of the 1998 TRI reporting year data, and TRI Explorer, which provides access to the TRI data that is easy to understand and flexible to use. Combined with hazard and exposure information, the TRI Explorer can be a valuable tool for risk identification. (Posted September 2000.) |
| http://www.epa.gov/tri/ |
|
Oak Ridge National Laboratory's |
| ORNL's Toxicology and Risk Analysis Section promotes the protection of human health and the environment by developing and applying improved methodologies and communications for risk, toxicological, and environmental regulatory analyses. (Posted January 2000.) |
| http://www.hsrd.ornl.gov/taraweb/index.htm |
|
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's |
| EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics promotes pollution prevention as the guiding principle for controlling industrial pollution; safer chemicals through a combination of regulatory and voluntary efforts; risk reduction so as to minimize exposure to existing substances such as lead, asbestos, dioxin, and polychlorinated biphenyls; and public understanding of risks by providing understandable, accessible and complete information on chemical risks to the broadest audience possible. OPPT's web site offers databases and software (of which some are available to download) for obtaining chemical and regulatory information; concerned citizen information; descriptions of projects and programs specific to communities and industry, such as Chemical Right-to-Know; information resources, such as clearinghouses, dockets, and hotlines; publications, such as fact sheets, Federal Register notices, and newsletters; and information for students and teachers. (Posted June 2000.) |
| http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/ |
| Voluntary Children's Chemical Evaluation Program |
| In December 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the Voluntary Children's Chemical Evaluation Program (VCCEP), one of three components of the Chemical Right-to-Know Initiative. The program intends to provide data to enable the public to understand the potential health risks to children associated with certain chemical exposures. In Tier 1 of the program's pilot, EPA has asked companies that manufacture and/or import 23 chemicals that have been found in human tissues and the environment through various monitoring programs to volunteer to sponsor an evaluation of those chemicals. (Posted July 2001.) |
| http://www.epa.gov/chemrtk/childhlt.htm |
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