title: Barriers to the use of toxicogenomics data in human health risk assessment: A survey of Canadian risk assessors.
abstract: Regulatory agencies worldwide need to modernize human health risk assessment (HHRA) to meet challenges of the 21st century. Toxicogenomics is at the core of this improvement. Today, however, the use of toxicogenomics data in HHRA is very limited. The purpose of this survey was to identify barriers to the application of toxicogenomics data in HHRA by human health risk assessors. An online survey targeting Canadian risk assessors gathered information on their knowledge and perception of toxicogenomics, their current and future inclusion of toxicogenomics data in HHRA, and barriers to the use of such data. Twenty-nine (29) participants completed a questionnaire after 2 months of solicitation. The results show that the application of toxicogenomics data in Canada is marginal, with 85% of respondents reporting that they never or rarely used such data. Knowledge of toxicogenomics by Canadian risk assessors is also limited: about two-thirds of respondents (68%) were not at all or only slightly familiar with the concept. Lack of guidelines for toxicogenomics data interpretation, data quality assessment and on their use in HHRA, were found to be major barriers. In conclusion, there is a need for interventions aimed at facilitating the use of toxicogenomics data in HHRA, when available.
authors.affiliation: Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Faculté de médecine, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada; Direction de la santé environnementale et de la toxicologie, Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), Québec, QC, Canada; Axe Santé des populations et pratiques optimales en santé, Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec, Québec, QC, Canada. Electronic address: julien.vachon.1@ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vachon
authors.affiliation: Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Faculté de médecine, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada; Direction de la santé environnementale et de la toxicologie, Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), Québec, QC, Canada. Electronic address: celine.campagna@inspq.qc.ca.
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Campagna
authors.affiliation: École supérieure d'aménagement du territoire et de développement régional, Faculté d'aménagement, d'architecture, d'art et de design, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada; Chaire de recherche industrielle CRSNG, Gestion et surveillance de la qualité de l'eau potable, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada. Electronic address: manuel.rodriguez@esad.ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Manuel J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: Département des sciences animales, Faculté des sciences de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada; Centre de recherche en reproduction, développement et santé intergénérationnelle, Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de Québec, Québec, QC, Canada. Electronic address: marc-andre.sirard@fsaa.ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Marc-André
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sirard
authors.affiliation: Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Faculté de médecine, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada; Direction de la santé environnementale et de la toxicologie, Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), Québec, QC, Canada; Axe Santé des populations et pratiques optimales en santé, Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec, Québec, QC, Canada. Electronic address: patrick.levallois@msp.ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Levallois
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D043922:Toxicogenetics
keywords: 21st century; Genomics; Knowledge application; Regulatory toxicology