Events

The Future of Chemical Toxicity Testing in the U.S., Creating a Roadmap to Implement the NRC’s Vision & Strategy

Date: June 21 2010, 8:00am - 5:00pm Location: National Press Club, Holeman Lounge (13th Floor), 529 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20045

Attendance is free, but registration is required. Breakfast and lunch provided during breaks. To register, please email Event Coordinator Liberty Mulkani at toxtesting@eli.org.  This symposium occurs on the first of two days in D.C. dedicated to examining chemical toxicity testing.  View the full event details.

Amid increasing calls for reform of U.S. laws that protect humans, wildlife and the environment from toxic chemicals, we appear to be on the verge of a transformative shift in how scientists test chemicals for harmful effects. The U.S. EPA asked the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies of Sciences to develop a long-range vision for toxicity testing, and a strategy for implementing the vision. The NRC responded with a groundbreaking report, Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy. The NRC vision calls for a revolution in the science of testing chemicals for toxicity that will draw on major advances in scientific tolls that are now available–or are rapidly evolving.

As science marches on, how are we implementing these proposed changes?This unprecedented one-day symposium on the science and policy of chemical testing will offer some answers.

Drawing on advances across a rage of disciplines–such as genomics, bioinformatics, systems bioloby, and computational toxicology–the NRC envisions a paradigm for chemical testing that is not only more predictive of adverse effects in humans, but also faster and cheaper than current models, and less dependent on whole-animal-based testing methodologies. This transformation will not happen overnight: the NRC recognized that implementation of its recommendations would require a substantial commitment of resources, would demand the involvement of multiple organizations in government, academia, industry, and the public, and could require a decade or two to achieve.

EPA, in particular, has thus far played a key role.  In 2008, EPA’s Office of Research & Development entered into a five-year Memorandum of Understanding with two NIH institutes in an effort to “guide the construction and governance of a detailed research strategy to make the NRC Committee’s vision a reality.” And in 2009, EPA issued its Strategic Plan for Evaluating the Toxicity of Chemicals, which the Agency characterized as “a blueprint for ensuring a leadership role for EPA in pursuing the directions and recommendations presented in the 2007 NRC report.”

This Environmental Law Institute symposium will convene a range of legal, policy, and scientific experts to explain and discuss–

• The current state of chemical toxicity testing three years after the NRC issued its vision report.
• What the federal agencies are doing–and planning to do–to ensure implementation of the NRC vision.
• Stakeholder perspectives across a range of viewpoints: industry, public health and environmental protection, they academy, and animal welfare.
• Where the NRC vision fits into a backdrop of legislative reform, international harmonization of testing requirements (for example, with Canada and the EU), and scarcity of financial resources

To learn more about the NRC vision, see the four-page Report in Brief prepared by the NRC.  Download it for free or purchase the full report here.

Presented by the Environmental Law Institute & co-sponsored by Johns Hopkins University, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and Lewis & Clark Law School’s Center for Animal Law Studies.

View the website and watch the podcast from the L&C-hosted symposium, The Science, Ethics & Law of Animal Testing in the 21st Century (September 12, 2009).