Jonathan Choi is a chemicals policy fellow. EDF Senior Scientist Dr. Jennifer McPartland contributed to this post. The beginning of this century will no doubt be known for a lot of things. In the biological sciences, I predict it’ll be known for big data. It’s hard to wrap your head around just how far we’ve […]

The post “Big data” comes to chemical testing – How to ensure more is better first appeared on EDF Health.

Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist. Readers of this blog are acutely aware of the dearth of data available for tens of thousands of chemicals in U.S. commerce today.  This state of ignorance reflects legal and resource constraints as well as the “challenge” of continuously integrating advancements in our scientific understanding of human health and […]

The post Building scientific bridges to support EPA’s new chemical testing programs first appeared on EDF Health.

Rachel Shaffer is a research assistant. Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist. BPA, DDT, PCBs, PBDEs, phthalates, PFOA … Forgive the alphabet soup, but chances are you’ve heard of at least some of these endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which have been the subject of a lot of public and media attention in the last several […]

The post 21st Century on the horizon for endocrine disruptor screening? first appeared on EDF Health.

Rachel Shaffer is a research assistant.  Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist. There has been a lot of buzz in recent years about the federal government’s new chemical testing initiatives, ToxCast and Tox21 (see, for example, these articles in Scientific American and the New York Times).  These programs are developing high-throughput (HT) in-vitro testing […]

The post Variety is the spice of … accurate chemical testing first appeared on EDF Health.

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 […]

The post EDF launches website on EPA’s emerging chemical testing programs first appeared on EDF Health.

Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist. This past November, EPA scientists published a sobering paper, “The exposure data landscape for manufactured chemicals,” in the journal Science of the Total Environment.  The paper reveals how little systematic information we have about human and environmental exposures to the thousands of chemicals in use today. The aim […]

The post Exposing our ignorance: EPA study reveals barren exposure data landscape first appeared on EDF Health.

Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist. Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist. Parts in this series:      Part 1     Part 2     Part 3     Part 4 This is the fourth in a series of blog posts on new approaches that federal agencies are exploring to improve how chemicals are evaluated for safety.  In this post, […]

The post Chemical safety evaluation: Limitations of emerging test methods first appeared on EDF Health.

Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist. Parts in this series:      Part 1     Part 2     Part 3     Part 4 This is the third in a series of blog posts on new approaches that federal agencies are exploring to improve how chemicals are evaluated for safety.  Previous posts primarily focused on the scientific principles underlying these […]

The post Chemical safety evaluation: Potential benefits of emerging test methods first appeared on EDF Health.

Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist. Parts in this series:      Part 1     Part 2     Part 3     Part 4 In my last post I introduced EPA’s collaborative NexGen effort and briefly described the scientific advances underpinning the program.  In this post, I’ll explore some of the potential power of EPA’s efforts, which will require that […]

The post Chemical safety evaluation: Packing tox tests into single drops of liquid! first appeared on EDF Health.

Jennifer McPartland, Ph.D., is a Health Scientist. Parts in this series:      Part 1     Part 2     Part 3     Part 4 Remember that then-new dance move from the 20th century?  Now don’t get too excited, EPA is not adding a dance category to its new sustainability research program. No, the ‘Robot’ in my title refers to some […]

The post Chemical safety evaluation: EPA is doing the “Robot” 21st century style first appeared on EDF Health.