Commentary on 'Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: Implications for Human Health Risk Assessment' by Krewski et al.

摘要

The main goal of Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy is to provide a practical means of evaluating the heath risks of chemicals. The vision is in stark contrast to the current situation, where the focus on apical testing in vivo is too expensive and too slow to keep up with ongoing influx of new chemicals into commerce. Key aspects of the vision are (a) in vitro evaluation of perturbations of toxicity pathways rather than in vivo evaluation of apical effects and (b) evaluation of dose response over relevant concentration ranges, as opposed to the current practice of focusing on doses that cause adverse effects in laboratory animals. While the NAS report lacks specifics on how the vision should be implemented, and even a precise definition of a toxicity pathway, its concern for a practical and dose-relevant approach to risk assessment is laudable.