51st Annual Meeting & ToxExpo - Society of Toxicology

51 st Annual Meeting and ToxExpo
The Thematic Track information can be found on pages 8–9.
Featured Sessions
Scientific
Toxicology Scholar has an opportunity to discuss their past, present,
and future. Successes, failures and disappointments include such
items as the mechanism of action of benzodioxole synergists, aryl
hydrocarbon receptor(AhR)-independent induction of cyp1a2,
human metabolism of agrochemicals, metabolic interactions, and
agromedicine. Our studies have identified environmental chemicals
that interact in humans based on induction, on enzyme inhibition by
organophosphorus toxicants of both exogenous substrate and steroid
hormone metabolism and on activation of naphthalene metabolism.
Microarray studies of the effect of chlorpyrifos on gene expression in
human hepatocytes identified regulated genes and characterized the
affected biological pathways.
Translational Impact Award Lecture
Medical Toxicology Evaluations of
the 2008 TVA Fly Ash Spill
Wednesday, March 14, 12:30 PM–1:20 PM
Lecturer: John G. Benitez, Vanderbilt University
Medical Center, Nashville, TN.
At approximately 1:00 am on 22 of December 2008,
the retaining dike broke at the TVA Kingston Fossil
Plant, releasing more than 5.4 million cubic yards
of coal ash onto TVA property, private property
and the Emory River. The ash flow filled several
sloughs with ash debris and embankment material. The communities
surrounding the spill site had an additional concern regarding
health risks because of living next to the site, ash on their property, the
emergency response, and planned remediation efforts. Through partnership
with the Oak Ridge Associated Universities and the Tennessee
Poison Center, residents living in the vicinity of the Kingston TVA
plant had medical evaluations by a medical toxicologist including a
history and physical exam, routine laboratory evaluations, pulmonary
function testing, chest radiographs, and blood and urine metal
evaluations. Three hundred twenty participants signed up initially;
200 were seen by the medical toxicologist. One hundred ninety-eight
of these had blood and urine testing, 208 had chest radiographs, and
194 had pulmonary function tests. Many participants had ear, nose,
throat, and pulmonary complaints. No pattern of heavy metal exposure,
abnormal blood testing, pulmonary function testing, and chest
radiographs were found.
SOT/EUROTOX Debate
Comparative Hazards: Chemicals
in the Environment Are the Largest
Risk to Human Health
Monday, March 12, 4:30 PM–5:50 PM
Chairperson(s): Lois D. Lehman-McKeeman, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Company, Princeton, NJ, and Ruth A. Roberts, AstraZeneca UK,
Macclesfield, United Kingdom.
SOT Debater: Stephen Safe, Texas A&M University, College
Station, TX.
EUROTOX Debater: David R. Bell, European Chemicals Agency,
Helsinki, Finland.
Endorsed by:
Society of Toxicology (SOT)
European Societies of Toxicology (EUROTOX)
Each year the SOT Annual Meeting includes a debate that continues
a tradition that originated in the early 1990s in which leading toxicologists
advocate opposing sides of an issue of great toxicological
importance. This year, our debaters will address the proposition:
Comparative Hazards: Chemicals in the Environment Are the Largest
Risk to Human Health
Chemicals have been introduced into the environment through a
variety of industrial and agricultural processes. They are measured in
the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. Although
there are many chemicals that serve to improve the quality of life,
there are also unintended hazards that are associated with their use.
This debate is intended to focus on chemicals in the environment as
the largest risk to human health, particularly when compared to other
potential health hazards.
Regardless of framework differences and personal convictions, each
scientific delegate will present relevant evidence and compelling
scientific arguments to persuade and appeal to the response of the
audience in order to obtain the approval or refusal of the motion. In
addition to being a featured session at the SOT Annual Meeting, this
debate will again take place in Stockholm, Sweden during the 2012
Eurotox Annual Congress, June 17–20.
up-to-date information at www.toxicology.org 65
Thematic Session