New Methods in 21st Century Exposure Science

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is seeking applications proposing innovative research to advance methods for characterizing real-world human exposure to chemicals associated with consumer products in indoor environments. Current understanding of human exposure to the chemical constituents of consumer products is limited due to inadequate information on formulations, emissions, and persistence in indoor environments associated with the diversity of usage scenarios. Methodological limitations currently impede collection of robust exposure information that is necessary to provide context for the results of a growing body of high throughput toxicity testing results and to characterize risk to human health for the general population and vulnerable groups. This solicitation seeks to support research that will: 1) develop and/or apply innovative technologies and methods to characterize presence and co-occurrence of suites of semivolatile chemicals (dozens to hundreds) in real-world indoor environments associated with emissions from and use of consumer products; 2) generate data to advance the scientific basis of exposure predictions by providing values for key model parameters, building confidence in model assumptions, and confirming model predictions for relevant pathways; and 3) develop and/or apply innovative technologies and methods to profile chemicals and related metabolites associated with consumer products in biological media. This solicitation provides the opportunity for the submission of applications for projects that may involve human subjects research.

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