US NIEHS awarded RTI International a contract to provide chemistry services to the National Toxicology Program (NTP) in support of its efforts to analyze the toxicity in chemicals
As part of ongoing federal efforts to better understand the health risks posed by exposure to commonly used consumer and industrial products, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences awarded RTI International a contract to provide chemistry services to the National Toxicology Program (NTP) in support of its efforts to analyze the toxicity in chemicals contained in a variety of household and other industrial products.
Since 1984, RTI has provided chemistry support services to the NTP to assist federal officials in evaluating the health effects associated with chemicals contained in various products.
The new five-year contract is worth up to $44.7 million.
Under terms of the contract, RTI scientists will characterize test substances, prepare dose formulations and verify dose concentrations in support of toxicological studies.
They also will analyze biological samples to determine the distribution and levels of chemicals and their metabolic products in a variety of biological tissues and organs.
Scientists use this information to determine internal dose and to look for biological markers that can serve as predictors for the onset of disease.
"With new chemical substances being developed and introduced to our environment all the time, it is vitally important that we evaluate their potential to affect human health," said Reshan Fernando, RTI's principal investigator for the project.
"Our analyses assure NTP scientists that the chemicals they test are well characterized and provide dose and internal exposure data that aid in the evaluation of the results of NTP studies, which provide federal public health officials with the information they need to make informed decisions about the health risks of many consumer and industrial products and to use this scientific information to protect public health." According to the NTP website, more than 80,000 chemicals are registered for use in the United States and an estimated 2000 new products including foods, personal care products, prescription drugs, household cleaners and lawn care products are introduced each year.
As stated in the NTP roadmap (2005), high-throughput screening (HTS) initiative is a high priority research area for the NTP.
As part of the project, RTI will use high-throughput chemical screening methods to complement the National Toxicology Program's high-throughput toxicology screening initiative, which will allow toxicity testing of a much larger number of chemicals and will assist toxicology officials in identifying which chemical substances may be potential health hazards and need additional testing.
