Screening for Developmental Neurotoxicity: Approaches and Controversy

Abstract

The potential of chemicals to cause developmental neurotoxicity has generated considerable interest in recent years. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published a general guideline for developmental neurotoxicity testing. The guidelines reflect discussions and input from scientists representing academia, industry, and regulatory sectors. While consensus has not been achieved on a number of parametric and semantic details, the guidelines provide a starting point for establishing a standard protocol for assessing the potential effects of perinatal chemical exposure on the integrity of the nervous system. The EPA guideline will be outlined and issues which remain somewhat controversial will be discussed (e.g., definitions, screening versus characterization, criteria for selecting chemicals for testing, dose selection criteria, exposure period, and data interpretation). In addition, alternative approaches for generating developmental neurotoxicity screening data will be reviewed.