National Toxicology Program

NIH, EPA, and FDA collaborate to move science forward.
A high-speed robotic screening system, aimed at protecting human health by improving how chemicals are tested in the United States, begins today to test 10,000 compounds for potential toxicity. The compounds cover a wide variety of classifications, and include consumer products, food additives, chemicals found in industrial processes, and human and veterinary drugs. A complete list of the compounds is publicly available at http://www.epa.gov/ncct/dsstox/ .

 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today added eight substances to its Report on Carcinogens, a science-based document that identifies chemicals and biological agents that may put people at increased risk for cancer.
The industrial chemical formaldehyde and a botanical known as aristolochic acids are listed as known human carcinogens. Six other substances — captafol, cobalt-tungsten carbide (in powder or hard metal form), certain inhalable glass wool fibers, o-nitrotoluene, riddelliine, and styrene — are added as substances that are reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens. With these additions, the 12th Report on Carcinogens now includes 240 listings. It is available at http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/roc12.

 

Several federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, today unveiled a new high-speed robot screening that will test 10,000 different chemicals for potential toxicity. The system marks the beginning of a new phase of an ongoing collaboration, referred to as Tox21, that is working to protect human health by improving how chemicals are tested in the United States.

 

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will mark the 50th anniversary of the Society of Toxicology (SOT) at the SOT annual meeting in Washington, D.C., March 6-10, 2011.
Lawrence Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., deputy director of the NIH, and NIEHS/NTP Director Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D., will be among the many NIH leaders and research staff that will be on hand to celebrate SOT's golden anniversary, and discuss the important role the field of toxicology plays in protecting human health. Tabak will give the plenary opening lecture on Monday, March 7 at 8:00 a.m.

 

The governments leading toxicologists and environmental health scientists will share their latest scientific accomplishments, offer continuing education courses, discuss funding and training opportunities, receive input on future research priorities, and more, at the Society of Toxicology (SOT) annual meeting.
Staff from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), one of the National Institutes of Health, and the National Toxicology Program (NTP) will speak at more than 30 different sessions and present 60 posters on topics ranging from improving toxicity testing to translational research. Many NIEHS grantees will also showcase their research. For the first time this year, live updates will be provided by conference participants on the NIEHS and NTP web sites.

 

Members of the media are invited to attend a press availability period at noon on Friday, December 18, 2009 that will follow a scientific meeting evaluating the safety of soy infant formula. An independent panel of 14 scientists will evaluate the most current research on soy infant formula to determine whether exposure to soy infant formula is a risk to human development. The expert panel will also indentify data gaps and research needs. The panel is convened by the Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (CERHR) of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP).

Meeting Information

 

Researchers studying the health effects of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) gathered in North Carolina to launch an integrated research initiative to produce data that will allow for a comprehensive assessment of its possible human health effects.
Researchers who just received funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to study BPA were brought together to meet with scientists from academia and government already working on the compound. The meeting was held Oct. 6, 2009 at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).

Since You Asked - Bisphenol A (BPA)

 

Representatives from four international agencies, including the director of the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP), today signed a memorandum of cooperation that could reduce the number of animals required for consumer product safety testing worldwide. The agreement between the United States, Canada, Japan and the European Union will yield globally coordinated scientific recommendations on alternative toxicity testing methods that should speed their adoption in each of these countries, thus reducing the number of animals needed for product safety testing.

The memorandum is available at http://iccvam.niehs.nih.gov/docs/about_docs/ICATM-MOC.pdf