New
Directions
in
Science
Michelle
Rau
Embry,
Ph.
D.

Environmental
Toxicologist
Office
of
Pesticide
Programs,

USEPA
Environmental
Fate
and
Effects
Division

GOAL

Efficient
and
effective
risk
assessment
that
uses
resources
responsibly

CHALLENGE

Evaluate
the
potential
effects
posed
by
thousands
of
chemicals
to
human
and
ecological
health
New
Directions
in
Science
Outline

Computational
toxicology/
genomics

Sensitive
endpoints

Exposure
pathways

Refined
risk
assessment

Population­
level
&
spatially­
explicit
models

Information
systems
(
GIS)
Computational
Toxicology/
Genomics

GOAL

Use
the
state­
of­
the
art
science
to
improve
risk
assessments
and
reduce
uncertainties

OBJECTIVES

Improve
source­
to­
outcome
linkage

Improve
prioritization
techniques
for
testing

Improve
quantitative
risk
assessments
Computational
Toxicology/
Genomics

OBJECTIVES

Link
genomics
information
to
adverse
outcomes

Interpret
genomics
information
for
risk
and
hazard
assessment

CURRENT
STATUS

Office
of
Research
and
Development
(
ORD)

Computational
Toxicology
Framework
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
comptox/
comptox.
framework.
html

Genomics
Task
Force
Workgroup

Science
Policy
Council
Interim
Policy
on
Genomics
(
2002)
http://
epa.
gov/
osa/
spc/
htm/
genomics.
pdf

International
Life
Sciences
Institute
(
ILSI)
/
Health
and
Environmental
Sciences
Institute
(
HESI)
(
Vicki
Dellarco)

Computational
Toxicology/
Genomics
Sensitive
Endpoints

GOAL

Enhanced
interpretation
of
hazard
identification
and
dose­
response
information

CURRENT
FOCUS

Developmental
neurotoxicity
(
DNT)


Immunotoxicology

Reproductive
function

Developmental
Neurotoxicity

Enhance
DNT
testing
guidelines

Develop
predictive
biomarkers
of
effect
based
on
key
toxicological
events
(
e.
g.,

mode­
of­
action
endpoints,
receptor
binding
affinities)


Evaluate
in
vitro
methods
and
genomics
and/
or
proteomics
technologies
Sensitive
Endpoints

Immunotoxicity

Develop
more
sensitive
and
predictive
immune
function
endpoints
using
a
panel
of
assays
to
examine
the
developing
immune
system
(
in
vivo,
ex
vivo,
in
vitro)

o
Determine
effective
doses
o
Compare
developmental
immunotoxicity
with
adult
effects
o
Identify
critical
developmental
windows
Sensitive
Endpoints

Reproductive
Function

Enhance
the
interpretation
of
reproductive
function
through
the
comparison
of
measures
of
human
reproductive
health
to
the
current
rodent
data
used
in
risk
assessments
o
Genomic
integrity
o
Human/
rodent
comparisons
o
Proteomics
Sensitive
Endpoints
Exposure
Pathways

GOAL

Evaluate
alternate
exposure
pathways
for
ecological
risk
assessment
(
e.
g.,
inhalation,

dermal)


CURRENT
STATUS

Drinking
water,
dermal,
and
inhalation
basic
models
have
gone
through
SAP
review

Currently
incorporating
SAP
comments

Will
perform
QA/
QC
and
provide
a
general
model
for
distribution
as
resources
allow
Refined
Risk
Assessment
(
RRA)


GOAL

Refine
current
deterministic
risk
assessment
methods
in
order
to
account
for
uncertainty
and
variability
and
to
assign
probabilities
to
exposure
and
toxicity
distributions

OBJECTIVE

Provide
information
on
the
magnitude
and
frequency
of
adverse
effects
on
the
environment

Mathematically
integrate
dose­
response
and
habitat
suitability
relationships

CURRENT
STATUS

Acute
avian
and
aquatic
risk
assessment
refinement
models
have
been
submitted
to
the
Science
Advisory
Panel
(
SAP),
and
the
agency
is
in
the
process
of
incorporating
comments

Have
identified
to
ORD
the
basic
landscape
Geographical
Information
Systems
(
GIS)

agro­
environmental
and
species
biological
information
for
the
purposes
of
developing
research
initiatives

http://
www.
epa.
gov/
oppefed1/
ecorisk/
index.
htm
Refined
Risk
Assessment
(
RRA)
Population
Level
&
Spatially
Explicit
Models

GOAL

Incorporate
current
predictions
of
the
magnitude
and
frequency
of
adverse
effects
on
individuals
to
higher
levels
of
biological
organization

OBJECTIVES

Consider
population
dynamics
in
general
and
species
specific
levels
of
resolution

Assess
effects
under
field­
and
landscapelevel
distributions
of
individuals

CURRENT
STATUS

Initial
population
modeling
refinements
rely
on
existing
data
sets

Field­
level
generic
population
models
are
under
development
at
the
ORD
Naragansett
laboratory

Meta­
population
models
(
species
explicit)

are
under
development
in
at
the
ORD
Corvallis
laboratory
(
PATCH)

Population
Level
&
Spatially
Explicit
Models

GOAL

Use
modern
information
systems,
such
as
GIS,
to
enhance
pesticide
exposure
estimation

OBJECTIVES

Obtain
higher
resolution
data
on
crop
occurrence,
location,
and
pesticide
use
o
habitat
distributions,
watersheds,
crop
distributions,

pesticide
use
distributions
Information
Systems
(
GIS)

CURRENT
STATUS

Adapting
the
Pesticide
Root
Zone
Model
(
PRZM)
to
run
with
spatial
data
sets

Mapping
endangered
species
locations
and
critical
habitat

Exploring
methods
to
map
out
relative
vulnerability
to
erosion
and
drift
Information
Systems
(
GIS)
