News About CompTox Research
Fact Sheets
- ToxCast Models (pdf, 2pp, 213kb)
- Combining Toxcast, Dosimetry and Human Exposure Research (pdf, 2pp, 171kb)
- CompTox Research Program (pdf, 2pp, 922kb)
- High-Throughput Risk Assessment (pdf, 2pp, 0.17mb)
- ToxCast™ (pdf, 2pp , 0.5mb)
- ToxCast Dosimetry & Exposure (pdf, 2pp, 0.34mb)
- Toxicological Priority Index (pdf, 2pp, 0.15mb)
- Chemical Toxicity Database (pdf, 2pp, 0.24mb)
- ToxCast Oil Spill Dispersant Analysis (pdf, 2pp, 0.08mb)
- Virtual Tissues (pdf, 2pp, 0.32mb)
Chemical of the Week
The CompTox Program:
EPA’s Computational Toxicology Research Program (CompTox) is part of the broader Chemical Safety for Sustainability Research Program. CompTox is researching ways to address several longstanding difficulties with managing the safety of chemicals, particularly in assessing chemicals for potential risk to human health and the environment. For example, there are over 80,000 chemicals in the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Inventory and only a small number have extensive toxicity testing information. Traditional chemical toxicity testing is expensive, time consuming and uses a significant number of animals.
CompTox Research conducts innovative research that integrates advances in molecular biology, chemistry and computer science to more effectively and efficiently rank chemicals based on risk. The outcome from this research is rapid chemical screening data (ToxCast™)and other decision support tools that assess chemicals for potential risks to humans and the environment.
EPA's National Center for Computational Toxicology coordinates the CompTox Research Program and works internally with EPA's other research labs and centers. Externally, CompTox partners with academic centers funded by the Science to Achieve Results program and with a wide-range of organizations with an interest in using computational toxicology to screen chemicals for potential toxicity. Some of these partners include industry, trade associations, state and local government, universities and other federal agencies.
Recent News
EPA, along with Tox21 partners, releases list of 10,000 chemicals being screened by robot system
A high-speed robotic screening system, aimed at protecting human health by improving how chemicals are tested in the United States, begins today to test 10,000 compounds for potential toxicity. The compounds cover a wide variety of classifications, and include consumer products, food additives, chemicals found in industrial processes, and human and veterinary drugs. A complete list of the compounds is publicly available. Testing this 10,000 compound library begins a new phase of an ongoing collaboration between the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, referred to as Tox21. Read News Release | View Chemical List
President Obama Honors Outstanding Early-Career EPA CompTox Researcher Dr. David Reif
President Obama today named 94 researchers as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Dr. Reif was nominated for developing tools for prioritizing and profiling chemicals for potential toxicity to human health and the environment, as well as studying the various subsets of childhood asthma in order to develop more personalized diagnoses, management strategies, and treatments of the disease. Read News Release
EPA Awards Contracts to U.S. Companies to Screen Chemicals for Human Health Impacts
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ToxCast chemical screening program has awarded contracts to four United States-based companies to test up to 10,000 chemicals for potential toxicity to people and the environment. ToxCast is designed to determine how chemical exposures affect human health. When fully implemented, ToxCast will be able to screen thousands of chemicals in fast, cost-effective tests. Read News Release