Health and Safety Laboratory launches partnership project

HSE Press Release: E061:04 - 7 June 2004

The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL), an agency of the Health and Safety Executive, has today launched a project that brings together industry, Government departments and UK regulators. The project will develop an approach which may substantially reduce the costs of toxicology testing by minimising the time needed to generate computer models for biological systems. If successful, the project may also help to reduce the number of animals used in experiments.

These computer models, known as physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models, simulate the way chemicals act in humans and animals, and can be used to predict chemical toxicity. As such, they provide an alternative to animal testing. HSL's software, which is at the proof-of-concept stage, already allows researchers to construct in just a few minutes most existing PBPK models. Such models currently take days to generate.

The potential for reducing the costs involved in constructing PBPK models should encourage widespread take-up of HSL's software. The development of the software demonstrates HSL's support for the Government's policy to promote the fullest application of the 3Rs (replacement of procedures with others which do not use animals, reduction in the number of animals used and refinement of procedures to minimise pain and suffering). HSL does not conduct any experiments on animals. The Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME) has endorsed the project.

The project will use the best available evidence to develop the models, will be based on sound scientific principles and will be extensively validated to show the benefits of this approach. One of the key advantages of the project is that by bringing together a range of stakeholders as funding partners, HSL scientists can ensure that the approaches developed are acceptable to industry, Government departments and regulators.

The use of PBPK modelling could help to provide more sophisticated tools for chemical risk assessment, as the process builds on existing scientific and quantitative information to enable different exposure conditions to be tested. PBPK models have been described as "data hungry" and "resource intensive". HSL's innovative software addresses the problem of data demand, allowing the construction of models in minutes rather than days.

Project leader, HSL's Dr George Loizou, said:

"This project has the potential to significantly change the way toxicologists work, by greatly reducing the mathematical burden and allowing them to focus on biology.

"The ability to integrate biological parameters in a single computer-based model will also improve the quality of research as it enables researchers to investigate the importance of each variable, as well as how they interact in the disease process".

The software will be developed over the next three years with funding from a number of Government and commercial sponsors, including the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Unilever, the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs/Pesticides Safety Directorate.

Notes to editors

1. HSL is Britain's leading industrial health and safety research facility with over 30 years' experience across all sectors. Operating as an agency of the HSE, it supports their mission to protect people's health and safety by ensuring risks in the changing workplace are properly controlled. As well as delivering a comprehensive service to HSE, it is also able to offer its unique portfolio of skills and expertise to other public sector organisations and the private sector.

2. HSL's capabilities encompass a wide range of topics including: fire, explosion and process safety; human factors and risk assessment; occupational and environmental health; safety engineering; work environment; and specialist photographic and technical services. More information about HSL can be found on its website at: http://www.hsl.gov.uk/

3. European Biomedical Research Association figures indicate that approximately 3.5 million animals, predominantly rodents, were used for experimental and other scientific purposes in the European Union in 1999.

4. More information on the PBPK modelling project could be found on HSL's website at http://www.hsl.gov.uk/capabilities/pbpk-jip.htm

5. FRAME is a charity that researches alternatives to animal use in research, testing and education. More information about FRAME is available on its website at http://www.frame.org.uk./

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