Cultured human-cell-based bioassay for environmental risk management

Among bioassays for evaluating various impacts of chemicals on humans and ecosystems, those based on cultured mammalian-cells can best predict acute lethal toxicity to humans. We expect them to be employed in the future in environmental risk management alongside mutagenicity tests and endocrine-disr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental monitoring and assessment 2001-07, Vol.70 (1-2), p.57-70
Main Authors: SAKAI, Y, SHOJI, R, KIM, B.-S, SAKODA, A, SUZUKI, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Bioassays
Biological and medical sciences
Biological Assay - methods
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - pathology
Databases, Factual
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Environmental management
Environmental monitoring
Environmental Pollutants - adverse effects
Environmental risk
Forecasting
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Liver Neoplasms - pathology
micropipette
Models, Theoretical
Mutagenicity
Risk Assessment
Risk management
Techniques
Toxicity
Toxicity Tests
Tumor Cells, Cultured
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Among bioassays for evaluating various impacts of chemicals on humans and ecosystems, those based on cultured mammalian-cells can best predict acute lethal toxicity to humans. We expect them to be employed in the future in environmental risk management alongside mutagenicity tests and endocrine-disrupting activity tests. We recently developed a disposable bioassay device that immobilizes human hepatocarcinoma cells in a small micropipette tip. This enables very quick (within 2 h) evaluation of acute lethal toxicity to humans. For bioassay-based environmental management, 2 promising approaches have been demonstrated by the US-EPA: toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) and toxicity reduction evaluation (TRE). The Japanese Ministry of Environment has been supporting a multi-center validation project, aimed at assembling a bioassay database. To make full use of these resources, we present a numerical model that describes contribution of individual chemical to observed toxicity. This will allow the selection of the most effective countermeasure to reduce the toxicity. Bioassay-based environmental risk management works retrospectively, whereas impact assessment using substance flow models and toxicity databases works prospective. We expect that these 2 approaches will exchange information, act complementarily, and work effectively in keeping our environment healthy in the 21 st century.
ISSN:0167-6369
1573-2959
DOI:10.1023/A:1010692108932