Battelle has initiated research under a recently awarded 10-year contract with the National Institute of Environmental Health Science’s National Toxicology Program (NTP).
NTP is an interagency program whose mission is to evaluate agents of public health concern by developing and applying tools of modern toxicology and molecular biology.
According to NTP, more than 80,000 chemicals are registered for use in the United States. Of these, an estimated 2,000 chemicals are introduced for use in everyday items such as food and personal care products, necessitating robust toxicology assessment capabilities to protect people, animals and the environment.
Under the contract, Battelle will conduct toxicology studies for the program by various routes of administration, including inhalation. Ongoing efforts include the conduct of pre-chronic dosed-water toxicity studies of several vanadium compounds, a chronic inhalation study of alpha-pinene, sulfolane chronic-dosed water studies, and method development for inhalation studies to evaluate the toxicological and carcinogenic potential of naturally occurring asbestos and related mineral fibers.
“These studies build upon the considerable experience Battelle has supporting the NTP over the past decades” says Dr. David Moore, Vice President of Business Development for Battelle’s Life Sciences Research business unit. “Toxicology research is an important segment of our life science business, which also includes pre-clinical studies supporting FDA licensure of drugs as well as world-class capabilities for biological containment research supporting new drug and vaccine development.”
Battelle will be presenting these capabilities at the Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting and ToxExpo conference March 22–26 in San Diego, CA.
Sources: Battelle, NIEHS