TEACH Project Scope

The primary purpose of TEACH is to report and summarize individual children's health related studies from the recent scientific literature and organize that information for use by a range of users. TEACH literature searches for listed chemicals are generally restricted to early lifestage-specific studies (gamete to adolescence) from the peer-reviewed literature, although less specific information likely to be relevant may be included (e.g. early lifestage chemical mixture exposure from close proximity to high vehicle traffic areas).

Partly because it relies on the peer-reviewed literature, TEACH does not critically review or evaluate studies for scientific quality. For example, TEACH generally does not evaluate study design strengths, weaknesses and limitations, whether conclusions in a study are supported by the evidence it reports, or whether there is conflicting evidence from other studies. TEACH does not derive quantitative estimates for risk assessment purposes and generally avoids integrating findings among studies — it might note, however, where multiple studies support similar conclusions. Listing of a study in the TEACH Database and TEACH Chemical Summaries does not represent an endorsement by the U.S. EPA as to the scientific quality of the study. Rather, TEACH relies on the peer review process for scientific publications to ensure that the reported study has been found to be sound and worthy of publication according to current practices of their peers in the scientific community.

TEACH Project Scope

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