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Advancing the Adverse Outcome Pathway Concept – An International ‘Horizon Scanning’ Approach

Metadata Updated: May 2, 2021

Our ability to conduct whole organism toxicity tests to understand chemical safety has been outpaced by our ability to synthesize new chemicals for a wide variety of commercial applications. Therefore, to increase efficiencies in chemical risk assessment, scientists and risk assessors are turning to mechanistic-based studies, making greater use of in vitro and in silico methods, to evaluate potential environmental and human health hazards. A framework that has gained traction for capturing available knowledge describing the linkage between mechanistic data and the apical toxicity endpoints, required for regulatory assessments, is the adverse outcome pathway (AOP). A number of international activities have focused on AOP development and plausible applications to regulatory decision-making. These interactions have prompted dialog between research scientists and regulatory communities to consider how best to use the AOP framework in risk assessment. While expert-facilitated discussions have been instrumental in moving the science of AOPs forward, it was recognized that a survey of the broader scientific community would aid in identifying current limitations while guiding future initiatives for the AOP framework. To that end, a global ‘Horizon Scanning’ exercise was conducted to solicit questions concerning the challenges or limitations that must be addressed to realize the full potential of the AOP framework in research and regulatory decision making. The majority of questions received fell into several broad topical areas including the concepts of AOP networks and quantitative AOPs, collaboration on and communication of AOP knowledge, AOP discovery and development, chemical and cross-species extrapolation, exposure considerations, and AOP applications. An expert ranking exercise was then conducted to identify the most important questions for each category. These questions were used to develop four broad themes to inform and guide future AOP research and regulatory initiatives. In addition, frequently asked questions (FAQs) were identified and addressed by experts in the field. Answers to FAQs will aid in framing further discussions about common misperceptions about AOPs and allow for clarification of AOP topics. The need for clarification occurred with surprising frequency, indicating that improvements are needed in communicating the AOP framework among the scientific and regulatory communities. Overall, the ‘Horizon Scanning’ effort brought together the global scientific community to guide the direction of future initiatives and identify key questions surrounding the AOP framework. The views expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and may not reflect U.S. EPA policy. This dataset is not publicly accessible because: It is available online and was collected through the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry in support of a Pellston Workshop. It can be accessed through the following means: All materials associated with this paper are found at the provided URL as the main document or as the supplemental files. Format: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.3805/full.

This dataset is associated with the following publication: LaLone, C., G. Ankley, S. Belanger, M. Embry, G. Hodges, D. Knapen, S. Munn, E. Perkins, M. Rudd, D. Villeneuve, M. Whelan, C. Willett, X. Zhang, and M. Hecker. Advancing the adverse outcome pathway framework - An international horizon scanning approach. SOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY JOURNAL. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Pensacola, FL, USA, 36(6): 1411-1421, (2017).

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: See this page for license information.

Downloads & Resources

No file downloads have been provided. The publisher may provide downloads in the future or they may be available from their other links.

References

https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.3805

Dates

Metadata Created Date December 10, 2020
Metadata Updated Date May 2, 2021

Metadata Source

Harvested from EPA ScienceHub

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date December 10, 2020
Metadata Updated Date May 2, 2021
Publisher U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD)
Maintainer
Identifier A-g4fj-514
Data Last Modified 2016-08-30
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 020:00
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Data Dictionary https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.3805/full
Harvest Object Id 25445066-0e7f-4f7b-aea9-21ef8408d14a
Harvest Source Id 04b59eaf-ae53-4066-93db-80f2ed0df446
Harvest Source Title EPA ScienceHub
License https://pasteur.epa.gov/license/sciencehub-license.html
Program Code 020:095
Publisher Hierarchy U.S. Government > U.S. Environmental Protection Agency > U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD)
Related Documents https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.3805
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 8dfd47bb96520ce93410501931e456280e810bb0
Source Schema Version 1.1

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