The ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute’s (HESI) Development of Methods for a Tiered Approach to Assess Bioaccumulation of Chemicals Subcommittee and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) jointly hosted a workshop on March 3-4, 2006 to explore the range of in vitro techniques which may be applied to evaluate the bioaccumulation potential of chemicals.
HESI is a global branch of the International Life Sciences Institute, a public, non-profit scientific foundation with branches throughout the world. HESI provides an international forum to advance the understanding and application of scientific issues related to human health, toxicology, risk assessment and the environment. HESI is widely recognized among scientists from government, industry and academia as an objective, science-based organization within which important issues of mutual concern can be discussed and resolved in the interest of improving public health.
The need for this workshop has come about as a result of growing concerns regarding the persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity of substances (PBTs) released into the environment. New laws resulting from enactment of the United Nations Stockholm Convention (Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Protocol) in May 2004 have led to significant new activity in the assessment of PBTs. To address the scientific challenges associated with developing bioaccumulation assessments for the many chemicals that need to be assessed in the coming years, there is a need to develop efficient, scientifically-defensible alternatives to existing methods. Domestic and international reporting requirements are facilitating the development of collaborative arrangements among industry, government, and academic scientists to identify additional methods for assessing thousands of chemicals.
During the workshop, recommendations were developed for using in vitro techniques for estimating bioaccumulation. In addition, the workshop sought to identify a path forward for achieving widespread acceptance of these techniques. Finally, a strategy will be developed for validating these techniques. The workshop proceedings will be submitted for publication in the peer-reviewed literature.
Workshop Participants
Workshop Program
Workshop Presentations
Workshop Breakout Session Background Documents