Developing, Applying, and Evaluating Models for Rapid Screening of Chemical Exposures

Chemical risk estimation requires quantitative information on exposures and toxicological effects. Quantitative exposure information can include chemical intake rates and (bio)monitoring data; however, such information does not exist for the vast majority of marketed chemicals. In addition to limited exposure data there is limited information on chemical use patterns and production and emission quantities.

These data gaps require the application of mass balance, statistical and quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models to predict exposure and exposure potential for humans and ecological receptors. Models and modelling frameworks that can be parameterized and used for high-throughput screening (HTS) with the currently available (limited) chemical information are being developed and evaluated to obtain essential estimates of exposure for data poor chemicals.

This presentation provides an introduction to underlying principles of some models used for exposure- and risk-based HTS for chemical prioritization for human health, including tools used in the ExpoDat project (USEtox, RAIDAR, CalTox) and other initiatives (SHEDS-HT). Case study examples of HTS include(i) model applications for screening thousands of chemicals for far-field human exposure, (ii) comparisons of far-field and near-field human exposure model results, and (iii) model evaluations with biomonitoring and monitoring data.

These illustrations show how the current tools can be used in a regulatory setting and what improvements in the models and chemical information used to parameterize the models are needed to address uncertainty in HTS exposure estimation.