For Release: June 23, 2015

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has published a notice in the Federal Register that describes and solicits comments on how EPA is planning to incorporate scientific advancements and tools into the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). Based on current research, the proposed approach, which incorporates validated high-throughput assays and a computational model, can serve as an alternative for some of the current assays in the EDSP Tier 1 battery.

The adoption of scientific advancements into the EDSP has been under way and part of the public dialogue about EDSP for several years. As EPA has consistently indicated, the Agency intends to continue to incorporate in the EDSP new methods involving high-throughput assays and computational toxicology. Also, EPA has identified a universe of approximately 10,000 chemicals as potential candidates for screening and testing under the EDSP. This approach is expected to accelerate the pace of screening, add efficiencies, decrease costs and reduce animal testing.

EPA is planning to incorporate the partial screening results from validated high-throughput assays and computational models as an alternative to data from some of the current assays in the EDSP Tier 1 screening battery. Currently, EPA has partial screening results for over 1,800 chemicals that have been evaluated using the high-throughput assays and computational model for the estrogen receptor pathway.

The Federal Register Notice (with information on how to provide comments) can be viewed at https://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OPPT-2015-0305-0001.

The press release related to the publishing of this Federal Register Notice can be viewed at http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/77377414ba7ebc5885257e68006ea110!OpenDocument.

More detailed information on the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program and its use of computational tools.