Toxicology

Expert Opinions & Insight When They are Needed Most

The toxicologists at EC merge classical Ph.D. training in toxicology and certifications in related fields such as industrial hygiene with practical, real-world experience in public and worker health incidents. Our toxicologists have responded to many of the largest environmental chemical emergencies in the last two decades, gaining expertise in chemical sampling, contamination documentation, environmental data analysis, and emergency response guidelines. This experience, coupled with their education and training in toxicology, makes EC’s toxicologists experts in the protection of human health and the understanding of disease causation. EC toxicologists have training in crisis communication and have the ability to effectively communicate complex scientific problems to workers and the general public, to the regulatory community, and to others.

Our experience spans a broad range of complexity, from single worker exposure assessments to large-scale environmental contamination evaluations. Because needs for expertise can sometimes be immediate and/or require long-term involvement, EC’s experts are available 24/7/365 for rapid deployment throughout North America and to many international locations.

Characterizing & Quantifying Human Exposures

The toxicologists and Certified Industrial Hygienists at EC are experts at both measuring and modeling approaches to exposure assessment. Whether conducting assessments as part of the risk assessment process, evaluating a worker’s historical exposure, or characterizing an individual’s potential chemical exposure in the field, our team has the experience and the instrumentation necessary to rapidly deliver the information needed for effective decision making in many industrial and non-industrial settings.

Exposure simulations are a unique strength of EC. We have the in-depth experience and field knowledge to be able to recreate events to characterize a historical exposure. This provides our clients unparalleled clarity of results and peace of mind.

In today’s rapidly expanding chemical marketplace, many chemicals are in use that do not have established worker or community exposure limits or guidelines. Our team of toxicologists has the ability to rapidly derive exposure values using a well-defined scientific approach to better evaluate the health and safety of the workplace or community.

Critical Evaluations that Make a Difference On-Site and in the Courtroom

EC Medical Toxicologists are physicians specially trained in the evaluation and treatment of individuals with toxic exposures. They are involved in the comprehensive high-level care of people affected by drugs, substances, chemicals, biologicals, or other agents that pose a threat to their health and well-being

Our broad range of medical toxicology expertise includes:

• Health effects of chemical or gas exposures.
• Addiction Medicine: drug and alcohol intoxication; impairment issues in the workplace or in motor vehicle incidents.
• Serving as Radiation Health Medical Officer and worker exposure monitoring, including health effects of radiation exposures.
• Serving as expert witnesses in courts on drug and alcohol impairment and general chemical exposures.
• Post-mortem toxicology reviews regarding cause of death and/or impairment.
• Serving as medical toxicology consultants to the Medical Examiner’s Office.
• Undersea and hyperbaric medicine consultations for marine incidents.

Information to Better Understand the Behavior of Chemicals in the Body

EC has years of experience conducting pharmacokinetic modeling to assess how drugs and other chemicals are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated from the bodies of humans and animals. We offer both traditional and physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling.

Our toxicologists are experienced in developing and applying traditional and PBPK modeling to assess a wide range of effects. This includes reconstructing exposure & dose, supporting the establishment of health-based guidelines, assessing the variability of chemical behavior across large populations, and improving dose-response characterizations for assessments of chemical exposures. Our mission is to help clients increase product safety, and better prevent and prepare for chemical exposures.

Tenured Expertise in Assessing the Effects of Drugs and Alcohol

The presence of illicit or non-prescribed drugs and/or alcohol in an employee’s system can cause impairment, and post-accident testing is required by many employers and regulatory bodies. EC provides expert Medical Review Officer (MRO) services for interpretation and reporting of post-accident drug and alcohol testing results. In addition, even properly prescribed drugs can cause impairment, and our experts can help evaluate and advise employers of prescription drug use policy in the workplace.

The goal of our drug and alcohol testing and evaluation services is to provide random, post-accident and pre-employment testing to help protect you, your workers, and your facilities.

Additionally, biological modeling of drugs and alcohol can assist clients to determine intoxication at any given time point when individual variables are known (e.g., blood concentration, body characteristics, gender, and ethnicity). Our experts have provided independent scientific evaluations in cases involving impairment associated with drugs and alcohol in dram shop and insurance liability cases.

Trusted Experts Guiding Clients to Improve their Environments

Whether our focus is helping our clients maintain compliance or ensuring the safety of a product, our goal is always to help provide peace of mind for you and consumers. The health science experts at EC support client regulatory needs for food, drug, and consumer products, and recommend testing & evaluation strategies for new or existing products.

Our team is capable of:

• Consulting on toxicity testing strategies for existing or new products
• Monitoring regulatory activities that might affect our clients’ products and services to support regulatory decisions with sound science
• Interpreting and summarizing results of toxicology, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity studies and providing expert scientific opinions
• Performing health risk assessments for consumer products
• Performing health hazard assessments for nanotechnology-based products and materials
• Preparing regulatory submissions and serving as regulatory liaison
• Reviewing scientific journal publications and evaluating federal scientific and technical reports, as well as state and local government documents for scientific merit
• Support to counsel as subject matter experts

Informing Clients and the Public with Rapid Health Information

Objective, impartial, and well-researched communication with key stakeholders during crises or emergency response events is invaluable. Through our experience in emergency response, expert support, and crisis communication training, EC is able to provide elite risk communication services in times of crisis involving chemical releases, potential employee exposure incidents, and when chemical contamination incidents affect the public.

We have years of experience communicating directly with, and alongside, regulators, federal, state, and local government officials, the press, and the affected public. We believe that effective risk communication delivered by recognized experts fosters confidence and can provide peace of mind to individuals in stressful situations.

Expert Services to Develop Client Documents

The EC toxicology team provides expertise in consulting on, authoring, or enhancing compliant (M)SDS documents. Operating as an extension of your in-house team, we work to support the creation of universally compliant SDS documents. This allows our clients to focus on their core business instead of documentation. We also provide:

• Hazard Classification Determination
• Hazard Communication Labeling Consultation
• Exposure Analysis for Complex Chemicals
• Toxicological Evaluation and Analysis

In additional to our SDS expertise, our scientists can support your new and existing efforts in technical writing, preparation of white papers on breaking subjects of interest, plan writing for facilities and emergency response, and other regulatory documentation. We align our technical documents with our clients’ styles and needs, incorporating prior experience in successfully achieving regulatory approval or compliance. Our specific services include:

• SDS Drafting and Updating
• Chemical-specific/Product-specific Evaluations
• Analytical Methods & Guidelines
• Instructional Materials
• Articles, Newsletters, & State of Science Reports
• Abstracts & Manuscripts
• Quality Assurance/Quality Control Documents
• Preparation & Review of Toxicology Manuscripts

Research, Development, and Guidance on Important Human Health Concerns

It is critical to promptly and accurately assess the extent of exposure and the risk of contamination following a chemical exposure. EC risk assessors evaluate the multiple exposure pathways that are possible at a site and the complex parameters necessary to evaluate any risk from ingestion of contaminated soil, water, or food, inhalation of vapor and particulates, and consideration of absorption of chemicals through the skin contact.

Our team conducts risk assessments in accordance with various state, federal, and international risk assessment guidelines (USEPA RAGS, DTSC HERO, TCEQ TRRP, LDEQ RECAP, Health Canada). However, what sets EC apart from others is our ability to incorporate unique and innovative strategies to build on the existing risk assessment framework to serve you and your personnel in the most effective way possible. These strategies include:

• Site-specific exposure assessments
• Chemical-specific exposure assessments
• Receptor-specific exposure assessments
• Job-task-specific exposure assessments
• Incorporation of bioaccessibility factors into exposure assessments
• Evaluation of multiple chemicals and biological interactions at target organs
• Toxicological assessments of chemicals without existing USEPA-derived toxicity factors
• Derivation of risk-based screening levels for chemicals with no existing standards