&EPA
www.epa.gov/research
science   in  ACTION
INNOVATIVE RESEARCH  FOR A SUSTAINABLE  FUTURE
               CHEMICAL SAFETY FOR SUSTAINABLITY RESEARCH
   Revolutionizing EPA Research
   The U.S. Environmental
   Protection Agency (EPA) is
   blazing a path forward to address
   today's most challenging
   environmental problems while
   proactively anticipating those of
   the future. Today's
   environmental problems are
   increasingly more complex and
   require an innovative research
   approach that provides effective,
   efficient and sustainable
   solutions.

   This approach to EPA research
   requires the diverse capabilities
   of scientists and engineers as
   well as economists, social
   scientists, and policy makers.
   EPA research plans must
   incorporate continuous input
   from external stakeholders such
   as Federal, State, and local
   government agencies, non-
   governmental organizations,
   industry, and communities
   affected by environmental
   problems.

   Research innovations are needed
   to meet the environmental
   challenges of the 21st Century.
   EPA is aligning and integrating
   its research into six priority
   program areas to meet these
   needs. They are:

      •  Air, Climate, and Energy
      •  Safe and Sustainable
         Water Resources
      •  Sustainable and Healthy
         Communities
              •   Chemical Safety for
                  Sustainability
              •   Human Health Risk
                  Assessment
              •   Homeland Security

           Background
           Chemical safety is a major
           priority of EPA and its research.
           Moving toward a safer and more
           sustainable environment requires
           producing new and existing
           chemicals in safer ways. It means
           having the information and
           methods needed to make better-
           informed, more-timely decisions
           about chemicals.

           The challenges are formidable:
           tens of thousands of chemicals
           are currently in use and hundreds
           more are introduced every year.
           Many of these chemicals have
           not been thoroughly evaluated
           for potential risks to human
           health and the environment. The
           consequences of use over a
           chemical's life cycle (from
           production to disposal) are not
           currently thoroughly evaluated.
         U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
         Office of Research and Development
EPA research on chemical safety
is geared to meet this challenge.

Using innovative approaches,
EPA scientists and their partners
are embracing the principles of
green chemistry to produce safer
chemicals. They are also
integrating a diversity of
scientific disciplines to develop
new prediction techniques,
pioneering the use of innovative
technologies for chemical
toxicity testing, and designing
tools to advance the management
of chemical risks.

Chemical Safety for
Sustainability includes research
in computational toxicology,
nanotechnology, endocrine
disrupting chemicals, human
health and pesticides.

Research Focus Areas
Chemical Safety for
Sustainability research is focused
on three main areas.
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1. Provide Scientific Knowledge,
Tools & Models for Integrated
Evaluation Strategies

The research goal is to develop
the scientific knowledge, tools,
and models needed to improve
chemical safety information that
can be used in assessments and to
make decisions about their use.

Research in this area will provide
critical information for
assessments and decision making
on chemical exposure and
impacts to humans and wildlife at
the individual and population
levels. This research area has
multiple levels including
chemical properties,
prioritization and screening,
hypothesis-driven targeted
research and systems
understanding of complex
environmental risk.

2. Improve Assessment and
Inform Management for
Chemical Safety

The research goal is to facilitate
faster, more efficient, more
certain, and sustainable chemical
assessments and management
decisions. Research will support
the next generation of risk
assessment and management
approaches to help screen and
prioritize chemicals for their
safety and make major regulatory
decisions to protect human health
and wildlife.

These chemical risk assessment
and management methods will:
1) Lead to better and more
efficient assessments and 2)
Provide risk management options
that better target where  risks are
more likely to occur throughout a
chemical's life cycle from
production to disposal.

3. Target High Priority
Research Needs for Immediate
and Focused Attention

The research goal is to address
the highest priority needs of
EPA's program and regional
offices, which are responsible for
developing regulations and
ensuring they are implemented,
respectively. The work focuses
on filling critical data gaps and
identifying high priority needs of
chemical management programs
using the products of the other
two research areas.

Timeline
Research planning is based on
iterative discussions with other
EPA offices and external
stakeholders to ensure that the
research products align with
needs. The plan is to fully
implement this integrated
approach to research by October
2011.

Get Involved
 EPA continues to seek input
from stakeholders (ranging from
academia, industry, non-
governmental organizations and
state/local governments) to
develop the Chemical Safety  for
Sustainability research
framework that guides the
research. The framework
document describes how EPA
and its stakeholders envision
providing integrated solutions to
chemical management decisions
and guides the development of
EPA's research plans.
More information:
www.epa.gov/research

Contact: Monica Linnenbrink,
linnenbrink. monica(a),epa. gov,
919-541-1522.
        U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
        Office of Research and Development

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