Interactions and Advocacy with the National Toxicology Program
The National Toxicology Program (NTP) has very active toxicology and carcinogenicity testing programs. Chemicals are nominated to the program by various means and a custom tailored testing program is initiated based on the available information on toxicity and exposure. Many smaller chemical companies who manufacture a nominated chemical are unaware of the possible outcomes of this testing and tend to avoid interactions with the NTP. Measured contact with the NTP can result in significant beneficial improvements to any proposed testing program and, in some cases, direct collaborations that can result in establishing a higher degree of safety for a chemical.
Positive interactions with the NTP can help reduce the business risk associated with a chemical undergoing an extensive government sponsored testing program. This can occur several ways. Informative two-way interactions can clarify the availability of existing information, production volumes, and consumer and employee exposures. This information could result in reductions to the testing program or advantageous modifications of the testing protocols. For example, a presumed inhalation exposure might not be taking place and a more appropriate route of exposure for testing might be by dermal exposure mimicking the actual human exposure route.
Toxicsolutions (TRA) has extensive experience with NTP study design, interpretation and chemical nominations. Our experiences and knowledge of the NTP testing program can help limit your business risk if a chemical you produce is selected for testing.