title: A systematic approach for identifying and presenting mechanistic evidence in human health assessments.
abstract: Clear documentation of literature search and presentation methodologies can improve transparency in chemical hazard assessments. We sought to improve clarity for the scientific support for cancer mechanisms of action using a systematic approach to literature retrieval, selection, and presentation of studies. The general question was "What are the mechanisms by which a chemical may cause carcinogenicity in the target tissue?". Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate was used as a case study chemical with a complex database of >3000 publications. Relevant mechanistic events were identified from published reviews. The PubMed search strategy included relevant synonyms and wildcards for DEHP and its metabolites, mechanistic events, and species of interest. Tiered exclusion/inclusion criteria for study pertinence were defined, and applied to the retrieved literature. Manual curation was conducted for mechanistic events with large literature databases. Literature trees documented identification and selection of the literature evidence. The selected studies were summarized in evidence tables accompanied by succinct narratives. Primary publications were deposited into the Health and Environmental Research Online (http://hero.epa.gov/) database and identified by pertinence criteria and key terms to permit organized retrieval. This approach contributes to human health assessment by effectively managing a large volume of literature, improving transparency, and facilitating subsequent synthesis of information across studies.
authors: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.
authors: Mary E
authors: ME
authors: Kushman
authors: Andrew D
authors: AD
authors: Kraft
authors: Kathryn Z
authors: KZ
authors: Guyton
authors: Weihsueh A
authors: WA
authors: Chiu
authors: Susan L
authors: SL
authors: Makris
authors: Ivan
authors: I
authors: Rusyn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000633:toxicity*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004051:Diethylhexyl Phthalate / Q000633:toxicity; D006801:Humans; D063369:Knowledge Discovery; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced*; D039781:PubMed; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D002273:Carcinogens; D004051:Diethylhexyl Phthalate
keywords: Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate; Hazard assessment; Mechanistic evidence; Systematic review
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