Pilot study using cell bioassays to study adverse health effects of CECs in consumer products

SCCWRP has launched a pilot study with California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) using bioanalytical screening assays to help close knowledge gaps in how common consumer products can trigger adverse health effects in humans and animals.

The study, launched in August, will focus on 20 different chemicals found in pharmaceutical, disinfectant and personal-care products, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

A newly formed division of OEHHA called the New Toxicology Evaluations Section is interested in using cell bioassays to generate new toxicity data for CECs that have been historically understudied. OEHHA will use the pilot to assess if this approach can be scaled up to validate model prediction for more than 1,000 chemicals.

Cell bioassays are a laboratory-based method currently used for rapidly screening environmental samples and detecting chemical classes that could be harmful to human and aquatic life.