COSMOS next generation - A public knowledge base leveraging chemical and biological data to support the regulatory assessment of chemicals

The COSMOS Database (DB) was originally established to provide reliable data for cosmetics-related chemicals within the COSMOS Project funded as part of the SEURAT-1 Research Initiative. The database has subsequently been maintained and developed further into COSMOS Next Generation (NG), a combination of database and in silico tools, essential components of a knowledge base. COSMOS DB provided a cosmetics inventory as well as other regulatory inventories, accompanied by assessment results and in vitro and in vivo toxicity data. In addition to data content curation, much effort was dedicated to data governance - data authorisation, characterisation of quality, documentation of meta information, and control of data use. Through this effort, COSMOS DB was able to merge and fuse data of various types from different sources. Building on the previous effort, the COSMOS Minimum Inclusion (MINIS) criteria for a toxicity database were further expanded to quantify the reliability of studies. COSMOS NG features multiple fingerprints for analysing structure similarity, and new tools to calculate molecular properties and screen chemicals with endpoint-related public profilers, such as DNA and protein binders, liver alerts and genotoxic alerts. The publicly available COSMOS NG enables users to compile information and execute analyses such as category formation and read-across. This paper provides a step-by-step guided workflow for a simple read-across case, starting from a target structure and culminating in an estimation of a NOAEL confidence interval. Given its strong technical foundation, inclusion of quality-reviewed data, and provision of tools designed to facilitate communication between users, COSMOS NG is a first step towards building a toxicological knowledge hub leveraging many public data systems for chemical safety evaluation. We continue to monitor the feedback from the user community at support@mn-am.com.

EFSA's OpenFoodTox: An open source toxicological database on chemicals in food and feed and its future developments

Since its creation in 2002, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has produced risk assessments for over 5000 substances in >2000 Scientific Opinions, Statements and Conclusions through the work of its Scientific Panels, Units and Scientific Committee. OpenFoodTox is an open source toxicological database, available both for download and data visualisation which provides data for all substances evaluated by EFSA including substance characterisation, links to EFSA's outputs, applicable legislations regulations, and a summary of hazard identification and hazard characterisation data for human health, animal health and ecological assessments. The database has been structured using OECD harmonised templates for reporting chemical test summaries (OHTs) to facilitate data sharing with stakeholders with an interest in chemical risk assessment, such as sister agencies, international scientific advisory bodies, and others. This manuscript provides a description of OpenFoodTox including data model, content and tools to download and search the database. Examples of applications of OpenFoodTox in chemical risk assessment are discussed including new quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models, integration into tools (OECD QSAR Toolbox and AMBIT-2.0), assessment of environmental footprints and testing of threshold of toxicological concern (TTC) values for food related compounds. Finally, future developments for OpenFoodTox 2.0 include the integration of new properties, such as physico-chemical properties, exposure data, toxicokinetic information; and the future integration within in silico modelling platforms such as QSAR models and physiologically-based kinetic models. Such structured in vivo, in vitro and in silico hazard data provide different lines of evidence which can be assembled, weighed and integrated using harmonised Weight of Evidence approaches to support the use of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in chemical risk assessment and the reduction of animal testing.

By-side chlorobenzenes and chlorophenols in technical chlorobiphenyl formulations of Aroclor 1268, Chlorofen, Clophen T 64, Kanechlor 600, and Kanechlor 1000

All 19 possible chlorophenol (CPh) and 12 chlorobenzene (CBz) congeners as potential impurities or additive were quantified in a relatively highly chlorinated type of technical chlorobiphenyl (CB) mixtures of Aroclor 1268, Chlorofen, Clophen T 64, Kanechlor 600, and Kanechlor 1000 using isotope dilution technique and HRGC/HRMS. The total CBzs content of Aroclor 1268, Chlorofen and Clophen T 64, Kanechlor 600, and Kanechlor 1000 was 0.039, 0.5, 230, 0.068, and 400 mg/g, respectively, while of CPhs was < 0.007, 0.48, 10, 0.093, and 0.98 microg/g. All 12 congeners of chlorobenzene could be quantified in all the formulations examined, but their proportions varied largely. It seems that stockpiles of technical chlorobiphenyl formulations and hazardous wastes containing CBs, both with added and/or by-side CBzs are also a somehow forgotten source of environmental contamination with those environmentally relevant compounds. No CPhs were found in Aroclor 1268 (< 7 ng/g). 2-MoCPh, 2,6-DiCPh, 3,5-DiCPh, 3,4,5-TrCPh, and 2,3,4,5,6-PeCPh were absent (< 1- < 20 ng/g) in Chlorofen and Clophen T 64, while other chlorophenol congeners were found at concentration from 7.4 to 130 and from 9.9 to 8,800 ng/g, respectively. Then, 3- and 4-chlorophenol, which co-eluted, were main contributors (88%) to the total CPhs content of Clophen T 64, while 2,3,4,6-TeCPh with 27% abundance was a major congener among CPhs in Chlorofen. Then, 2,4,6-TrCPh was the most abundant congener in Kanechlor 600, while 2,4,5-TrCPh was the most abundant congener in Kanechlor 1000.

By-side chlorodibenzo-P-dioxins and chlorodibenzofurans in technical chlorobiphenyl formulations of aroclor 1268, chlorofen, and clophen T 64

Aroclor 1268, Chlorofen, and Clophen T 64 technical chlorobiphenyl formulations were examined for 75 congeners of chlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (CDD) and 135 congeners of chlorodibenzofuran (CDF) using isotope dilution technique, separation, and enrichment on silica gel impregnated with activated carbon and final high resolution gas chromatography (HRGC)/high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) quantification. Three the most highly chlorinated congeners of CDD were found in Aroclor 1268, Chlorofen, and Clophen T 64. In the case of CDF, the number of congeners identified was 108 with 44 coeluting in pairs and 3 in triplicate in Aroclor 1268, 16 with 4 coeluting in pairs in Chlorofen, and 88 with 46 coeluting in pairs and 3 in triplicate in Clophen T 64. The total CDD and CDF concentrations of Aroclor 1268, Chlorofen, and Clophen T 64 were 24, 160, and 8.5 ng/g and 1600,270,000, and 4000 ng/g, respectively. No mono- to hexa-CDDs could be quantified in Aroclor 1268 (<0.03 to <1 ng/g), Chlorofen (<0.07 to <0.3 ng/g), or Clophen T 64 (<0.007 to <2 ng/g), whereas two hepta-CDDs and octa-CDD were found in all three formulations, and Chlorofen was richer in those compounds, followed by Aroclor 1268 and Clophen T 64.