Harvesting the promise of AOPs: an assessment and recommendations

Abstract

The Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) framework and associated knowledgebases (KBs) have received significant attention and use in the regulatory toxicology community. However, it is increasingly apparent that the potential stakeholder community for the AOP concept and AOP KBs is broader than scientists and regulators directly involved in chemical safety assessment. Through the Pellston workshop held during April 2– 6, 2017 in Cornwall, Canada, we identify and describe those stakeholders could benefit from the application of the AOP framework and knowledge to specific problems. We also summarize the challenges faced in implementing pathway-based approaches and provide a series of recommendations to ensure further progression of the framework as a sustainable and dependable tool supporting assessments of both human health and the environment. The promise of AOPs can only be fully realized through the active engagement of, and input from multiple stakeholders, requiring multi-pronged substantive long-term planning and strategies.