Search

Background: Some 20 y ago, scientific and regulatory communities identified the potential of omics sciences (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) to improve chemical risk assessment through development of toxicogenomics. Recognizing that regulators adopt new scientific methods cautiously given accountability to diverse stakeholders, the scope and pace of adoption of toxicogenomics tools and data have nonetheless not met the ambitious, early expectations of omics proponents. Objective: Our objective was, therefore, to inventory, investigate, and derive insights into drivers of and obstacles to adoption of toxicogenomics in chemical risk assessment. By invoking established social science frameworks conceptualizing innovation adoption, we also aimed to develop recommendations for proponents of toxicogenomics and other new approach methodologies (NAMs). Methods: We report findings from an analysis of 56 scientific and regulatory publications from 1998 through 2017 that address the adoption of toxicogenomics for chemical risk assessment. From this purposeful sample of toxicogenomics discourse, we identified major categories of drivers of and obstacles to adoption of toxicogenomics tools and data sets. We then mapped these categories onto social science frameworks for conceptualizing innovation adoption to generate actionable insights for proponents of toxicogenomics. Discussion: We identify the most salient drivers and obstacles. From 1998 through 2017, adoption of toxicogenomics was understood to be helped by drivers such as those we labeled Superior scientific understanding, New applications, and Reduced cost & increased efficiency but hindered by obstacles such as those we labeled Insufficient validation, Complexity of interpretation, and Lack of standardization. Leveraging social science frameworks, we find that arguments for adoption that draw on the most salient drivers, which emphasize superior and novel functionality of omics as rationales, overlook potential adopters’ key concerns: simplicity of use and compatibility with existing practices. We also identify two perspectives—innovation-centric and adopter-centric—on omics adoption and explain how overreliance on the former may be undermining efforts to promote toxicogenomics. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP6500

The Minamata Convention on Mercury provided a mandate for action against global mercury pollution. However, our knowledge of mercury exposures is limited because there are many regions and subpopulations with little or no data.We aimed to increase worldwide understanding of human exposures to mercury by collecting, collating, and analyzing mercury concentrations in biomarker samples reported in the published scientific literature.A systematic search of the peer-reviewed scientific literature was performed using three databases. A priori search strategy, eligibility criteria, and data extraction steps were used to identify relevant studies.We collected 424,858 mercury biomarker measurements from 335,991 individuals represented in 312 articles from 75 countries. General background populations with insignificant exposures have blood, hair, and urine mercury levels that generally fall under [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text], respectively. We identified four populations of concern:This review suggests that all populations worldwide are exposed to some amount of mercury and that there is great variability in exposures within and across countries and regions. There remain many geographic regions and subpopulations with limited data, thus hindering evidence-based decision making. This type of information is critical in helping understand exposures, particularly in light of certain stipulations in the Minamata Convention on Mercury. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3904.

Background: Some evidence suggests that fluoride may be neurotoxic to children. Few of the epidemiologic studies have been longitudinal, had individual measures of fluoride exposure, addressed the ...

Background/Aims: Mercury (Hg) is a potent toxicant of concern to the general public. Recent studies suggest that several genes that mediate mercury metabolism are polymorphic. We hypothesize that s...

Introduction: Cadmium (Cd) exposure initiates cellular processes that promote aging and disrupts methylation globally. Aging is associated with DNA methylation changes, and age-associated methylati...

Mercury, a known neurotoxicant, is used to isolate gold in small-scale gold mining. Inhalation has been pegged as the main route of exposure to elemental mercury (Hg) from burning it in the process...

Background: Recent studies report an inverse association between fluoride exposure and IQ in children, but few have individual measures of exposure, measures of exposure during development or a pro...

Evidence suggests mercury (Hg) exposure influences DNA methylation and risk for cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. This study hypothesizes that methylmercury (MeHg, from fish consumption) and ...

Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurological disorder among school-aged children. Prenatal exposure to the neurotoxicant methylmercury (MeHg) has been related to ...

Growing evidence suggests that organic and inorganic mercury (Hg) may affect the cardiovascular system and blood pressure differently, but little is known about this differential association in sma...

Background and Aims: Mercury and lead, two established neurodevelopmental toxicants, comprise two of the top three chemicals of concern on the EPA/ATSDR Priority List of Hazardous Substances. Yet, ...