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Simon TW, Ryman J, Becker RA. Commentary: Value of information case study strongly supports use of the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC). Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 2024; 149:105594. [PMID: 38555099 DOI: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2024.105594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2024] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
A Value of Information (VOI) analysis can play a key role in decision-making for adopting new approach methodologies (NAMs). We applied EPA's recently developed VOI framework to the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC). Obtaining/deriving a TTC value for use as a toxicity reference value (TRV) for substances with limited toxicity data was shown to provide equivalent or greater health protection, immense return on investment (ROI), greater net benefit, and substantially lower costs of delay (CoD) compared with TRVs derived from either traditional human health assessment (THHA) chronic toxicity testing in lab animals or the 5-day in vivo EPA Transcriptomic Assessment Product (ETAP). For all nine exposure scenarios examined, the TTC was more economical terms of CoD and ROI than the ETAP or the THHA; expected net benefit was similar for the TTC and ETAP with both of these more economical than the THHA The TTC ROI was immensely greater (5,000,000-fold on average) than the ROI for THHA and the ETAP ROI (100,000-fold on average). These results support the use of the TTC for substances within its domain of applicability to waive requiring certain in vivo tests, or at a minimum, as an initial screening step before conducting either the ETAP or THHA in vivo studies.
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Browne P, Paul Friedman K, Boekelheide K, Thomas RS. Adverse effects in traditional and alternative toxicity tests. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 2024; 148:105579. [PMID: 38309424 PMCID: PMC11062625 DOI: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2024.105579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 02/05/2024]
Abstract
Chemical safety assessment begins with defining the lowest level of chemical that alters one or more measured endpoints. This critical effect level, along with factors to account for uncertainty, is used to derive limits for human exposure. In the absence of data regarding the specific mechanisms or biological pathways affected, non-specific endpoints such as body weight and non-target organ weight changes are used to set critical effect levels. Specific apical endpoints such as impaired reproductive function or altered neurodevelopment have also been used to set chemical safety limits; however, in test guidelines designed for specific apical effect(s), concurrently measured non-specific endpoints may be equally or more sensitive than specific endpoints. This means that rather than predicting a specific toxicological response, animal data are often used to develop protective critical effect levels, without assuming the same change would be observed in humans. This manuscript is intended to encourage a rethinking of how adverse chemical effects are interpreted: non-specific endpoints from in vivo toxicological studies data are often used to derive points of departure for use with safety assessment factors to create recommended exposure levels that are broadly protective but not necessarily target-specific.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patience Browne
- Environment Health and Safety Division Environmental Directorate, Organisation for Economic and Cooperative Development (OECD), 2 rue André Pascal, Paris Cedex 16, 75775, France.
| | - Katie Paul Friedman
- Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA
| | - Kim Boekelheide
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Russell S Thomas
- Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA
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Awan J, Faherty LJ, Willis HH. Navigating Uncertainty in Public Health Decisionmaking: The Role of a Value of Information Framework in Threat Agnostic Biosurveillance. Health Secur 2024; 22:39-44. [PMID: 38079227 DOI: 10.1089/hs.2023.0070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/23/2024] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jalal Awan
- Jalal Awan, MS, MPhil, PhD, is an Energy and Climate Policy Analyst, The Utility Reform Network, Oakland, CA, and an Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA
| | - Laura J Faherty
- Laura J. Faherty, MD, MPH, MSHP, is a Physician Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation, and an Attending Physician, Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME
| | - Henry H Willis
- Henry H. Willis, PhD, is a Senior Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA
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Krewski D, Saunders-Hastings P, Baan RA, Barton-Maclaren TS, Browne P, Chiu WA, Gwinn M, Hartung T, Kraft AD, Lam J, Lewis RJ, Sanaa M, Morgan RL, Paoli G, Rhomberg L, Rooney A, Sand S, Schünemann HJ, Straif K, Thayer KA, Tsaioun K. Development of an Evidence-Based Risk Assessment Framework. ALTEX 2022; 39:667-693. [PMID: 36098377 PMCID: PMC10080579 DOI: 10.14573/altex.2004041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2020] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Assessment of potential human health risks associated with environmental and other agents requires careful evaluation of all available and relevant evidence for the agent of interest, including both data-rich and data-poor agents. With the advent of new approach methodologies in toxicological risk assessment, guidance on integrating evidence from mul-tiple evidence streams is needed to ensure that all available data is given due consideration in both qualitative and quantitative risk assessment. The present report summarizes the discussions among academic, government, and private sector participants from North America and Europe in an international workshop convened to explore the development of an evidence-based risk assessment framework, taking into account all available evidence in an appropriate manner in order to arrive at the best possible characterization of potential human health risks and associated uncertainty. Although consensus among workshop participants was not a specific goal, there was general agreement on the key consider-ations involved in evidence-based risk assessment incorporating 21st century science into human health risk assessment. These considerations have been embodied into an overarching prototype framework for evidence integration that will be explored in more depth in a follow-up meeting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Krewski
- School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
- McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
- Risk Sciences International, Ottawa, Canada
| | | | - Robert A. Baan
- The IARC Monographs Programme, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France (retired)
| | | | - Patience Browne
- Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, France
| | - Weihsueh A. Chiu
- Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Maureen Gwinn
- Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, USA
| | - Thomas Hartung
- Chair for Evidence-based Toxicology and Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
- CAAT-Europe, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Andrew D. Kraft
- Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Chemical & Pollutant Assessment Division, US EPA, DC, USA
| | - Juleen Lam
- Department of Public Health at California State University, East Bay, USA
| | - R. Jeffrey Lewis
- ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Annandale, New Jersey, USA (retired)
| | - Moez Sanaa
- Agence Nationale Sécurité Sanitaire Alimentaire Nationale, Paris, France
| | | | - Greg Paoli
- Risk Sciences International, Ottawa, Canada
| | | | - Andrew Rooney
- Integrative Health Assessments Branch, National Toxicology Program, US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, USA
| | - Salomon Sand
- Department of Risk and Benefit Assessment, Swedish Food Agency, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - Kurt Straif
- The IARC Monographs Programme, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France (retired)
| | - Kristina A Thayer
- Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Chemical & Pollutant Assessment Division, US EPA, NC, USA
| | - Katya Tsaioun
- Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
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Krewski D, Saunders-Hastings P, Larkin P, Westphal M, Tyshenko MG, Leiss W, Dusseault M, Jerrett M, Coyle D. Principles of risk decision-making. JOURNAL OF TOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH. PART B, CRITICAL REVIEWS 2022; 25:250-278. [PMID: 35980104 DOI: 10.1080/10937404.2022.2107591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Risk management decisions in public health require consideration of a number of complex, often conflicting factors. The aim of this review was to propose a set of 10 fundamental principles to guide risk decision-making. Although each of these principles is sound in its own right, the guidance provided by different principles might lead the decision-maker in different directions. For example, where the precautionary principle advocates for preemptive risk management action under situations of scientific uncertainty and potentially catastrophic consequences, the principle of risk-based decision-making encourages decision-makers to focus on established and modifiable risks, where a return on the investment in risk management is all but guaranteed in the near term. To evaluate the applicability of the 10 principles in practice, one needs to consider 10 diverse risk issues of broad concern and explore which of these principles are most appropriate in different contexts. The 10 principles presented here afford substantive insight into the process of risk management decision-making, although decision-makers will ultimately need to exercise judgment in reaching appropriate risk decisions, accounting for all of the scientific and extra-scientific factors relevant to the risk decision at hand.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Krewski
- McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Patrick Saunders-Hastings
- McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Patricia Larkin
- McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Margit Westphal
- McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | | | - William Leiss
- McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Maurice Dusseault
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Michael Jerrett
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Doug Coyle
- School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, ON, Canada
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