Exploring consumer exposure pathways and patterns of use for chemicals in the environment

Kathie L Dionisio; Alicia M Frame; Michael-Rock Goldsmith; John F Wambaugh; Alan Liddell; Tommy Cathey; Doris Smith; James Vail; Alexi S Ernstoff; Peter Fantke; Olivier Jolliet; Richard S Judson

doi:10.1016/j.toxrep.2014.12.009

Exploring consumer exposure pathways and patterns of use for chemicals in the environment

Toxicol Rep. 2015 Jan 2:2:228-237. doi: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2014.12.009. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, MC E205-02, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA.
² U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Computational Toxicology, MC B205-01, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA.
³ North Carolina State University, Department of Mathematics, Box 8205, Raleigh, NC 27695-8205, USA.
⁴ Lockheed Martin, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
⁵ Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Produktionstorvet 424, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.
⁶ Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

Abstract

Humans are exposed to thousands of chemicals in the workplace, home, and via air, water, food, and soil. A major challenge in estimating chemical exposures is to understand which chemicals are present in these media and microenvironments. Here we describe the Chemical/Product Categories Database (CPCat), a new, publically available (http://actor.epa.gov/cpcat) database of information on chemicals mapped to "use categories" describing the usage or function of the chemical. CPCat was created by combining multiple and diverse sources of data on consumer- and industrial-process based chemical uses from regulatory agencies, manufacturers, and retailers in various countries. The database uses a controlled vocabulary of 833 terms and a novel nomenclature to capture and streamline descriptors of chemical use for 43,596 chemicals from the various sources. Examples of potential applications of CPCat are provided, including identifying chemicals to which children may be exposed and to support prioritization of chemicals for toxicity screening. CPCat is expected to be a valuable resource for regulators, risk assessors, and exposure scientists to identify potential sources of human exposures and exposure pathways, particularly for use in high-throughput chemical exposure assessment.

Keywords: ACToR, Aggregated Computational Toxicology Resource; AICS, Australian Inventory of Chemical Substances; CAS RN, Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number; CDR, Chemical Data Reporting Rule; CPCat, Chemical/Product Categories Database; Chemical exposure; DCPS, Danish Consumer Product Survey; DfE, Design for the Environment; EDSP, Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program; EPA, Environmental Protection Agency; EWG, Environmental Working Group; Exposure prioritization; GRAS, Generally Recognized as Safe; HTP, Human Toxome Project; High throughput; Human exposure; IUR, Inventory Update Reporting Modifications Rule; MSDS, Material Safety Data Sheets; NICNAS, National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme; RPC, Retail Product Categories Database; SDWA, Safe Drinking Water Act; SPIN, Substances in Preparation in Nordic Countries; TSCA, Toxic Substances Control Act; Use category.