❓ How do scientists test whether certain substances are toxic? Are current testing practices adequate? Are there some toxicity outcomes that are overlooked?

👉 Bioassays (short for biological assays) are scientific experiments carried out in labware such as test tubes and petri dishes. They are one approach that can be used to screen for and measure the effects of a substance, including food contact chemicals, by exposing it to small parts of a living organism or a biological system.

☝️ Currently, most toxicity assessments for food contact chemicals focus on assessing one substance at a time and are limited to checking for only certain types of toxicity such as being cancer-causing or genotoxic (i.e. damaging DNA). However, we are exposed to chemicals in complex mixtures, and there are many other toxic effects that should ideally be considered as well, such as promoting cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, and other impacts on the important roles hormones play in our bodies.