Science in Action highlights how LRI-supported research advances chemical safety science and contributes to a greater understanding of the potential health and environmental impacts of chemicals. Explore featured projects, publications, and research highlights that demonstrate how scientific discoveries can inform future research, innovation, and decision-making.
Science in Action
Approved Research Highlights
Robots Help Scientists Improve Chemical Exposure Models
- The Problem: Computer models are widely used in industry and regulatory agencies to predict chemical exposure risks, but these models are hard to verify without real-world data.
- The Solution: Researchers are using advanced robots in a new study to gather the exact data needed to check these models.
- How It Works: In this pilot study, a robot mimics a human painting a wall in a test room and advanced instruments measure levels of chemicals in the air. Scientists compare this real-world data to computer models to calibrate or update the algorithms in exposure models to ensure higher accuracy.
- Impact: This study paves the way for using robots to verify and improve computerized exposure models for a wide range of everyday products. More accurate exposure models can increase scientific confidence in safety evaluations across a variety of products and under different conditions of use.
AI Tool Modernizes Chemical Safety Assessments for Skin Contact
- The Problem: Current chemical safety assessments often rely on highly conservative assumptions that may not reflect real-world exposure risks.
- The Solution: Scientists are building a new AI web tool to make safety assessments for chemicals that may come into content with the skin more transparent, consistent, and accurate.
- How It Works: The tool combines AI, math models, and clear logic to update and improve how companies and regulatory agencies calculate potential risks from skin exposure to chemicals.
- Impact: This tool is being designed to provide quicker and more accurate skin exposure assessments to help ensure that appropriate protective measures, when needed, are implemented.
Using Human Cells to Replace Animal Testing for Safety Assessments of Inhaled Chemicals
- The Problem: Traditional toxicity testing for inhalation of chemicals use lab animals, can be costly, and often fail to predict human risk because animal and human respiratory systems are structurally, and in some ways functionally, very different.
- The Solution: To more accurately predict chemical safety without using animals, researchers are developing and evaluating new laboratory methods that use advanced testing systems to expose human lung cells to gases, liquids, or aerosols.
- How It Works: Scientists expose human airway cell cultures, or tissue on-a-chip, to chemicals for different time periods and then measure cell damage. Computer models translate these results to humans inhaling such substances.
- Impact: This research is paving the way for faster, more efficient, and more accurate human health safety decisions. The extensive data generated through these studies will help build scientific trust in non-animal testing methods for evaluating inhalation exposures to chemical products.