Program

Annual Scientific Meeting

Advances in Risk Assessment: Petroleum Toxicology and Neurotoxicology

Note: The ACTRA ASM will run as a fully virtual event

Thursday 26 August 2021

	MORNING SESSION Methods and Tests in Neurotoxicology Chair: Effi Liden, Department of Health Victoria
9:00am - 9:15am	Welcome Address A/Prof. Paul Wright, RMIT, ACTRA President Effi Liden, Department of Health Victoria, Organising Committee Chair
9:15am - 9:45am	Principal Mechanisms of Chemical Neurotoxicity A/Prof. Paul Wright, RMIT, ACTRA President • Neurotoxicity can occur following exposure to neurotoxicants that alter nervous system functions. • Characteristics of the nervous system relating to the principal mechanisms of neurotoxicity include excitable membranes of neurons, neurotransmitter release and action, and interactions with other organ systems. • Types of neurotoxicity will be summarised, including neuronopathies, axonopathies and interference with electrical transmission and chemical neurotransmission.
9:45am - 10:45am	Principles and Methods for the Assessment of Neurotoxicity associated with Exposure to Chemicals Dr. Elizabeth Mendez, United States Environmental Protection Agency • Development of Neurotoxicity Test Guidelines • Strengths and limitations of the current Neurotoxicity Test Guidelines • Role of new alternative methodologies (NAMs) in assessing for neurotoxicity
10:45am - 11:15am	Morning Tea
	LATE MORNING SESSION New Approach Methodologies and Integrated Alternative Testing Approaches for Neurotoxicity Chair: Dr. Rhian Cope, APVMA
11:15am - 11:45am	Use of Zebrafish in Toxicology: Combining throughput and translatability Dr. Javier Terriente, ZeClinics • Zebrafish is a model that merges experimental and biological advantages from in vitro and in vivo preclinical models • Zebrafish can be used to evaluate chemical compound toxicity for the whole organism and for specific organs. • Zebrafish displays analogous toxicology prediction rates than higher vertebrates.
11:45am - 12:15pm	Utility of Zebrafish as a Model for Developmental Neurotoxicity Prof. Robyn Leigh Tanguay, Oregon State University • Complex embryonic development most susceptible life stage to chemical exposures • Processes of embryonic development well conserved between humans and fish • High throughput chemical screening in zebrafish routine • Zebrafish well suited for mixtures research
12:15pm - 12:30pm	Challenges of Petroleum Hydrocarbons Mixtures Risk Assessment- Case Studies Ken Kiefer, ERM
12:30pm - 12:45pm	Weathered petroleum – assessing the toxicity of polar compounds vs petroleum hydrocarbons Dr. Jackie Wright, enRisks • The measurement of TRH provides an indication of the presence of petroleum compounds as well as polar metabolites that are present as a result of weathering • This talk outlines an approach to evaluating and characterising risks to human health and the environment associated with weathered petroleum
12:45pm - 2:30pm	Lunch
1:30pm - 2:30pm	ACTRA AGM
	EARLY AFTERNOON SESSION Chemical Neurotoxicants in Risk Assessment Chair: Tarah Hagen, SLR Consulting
2:30pm - 3:15pm	Toxicology of Unconventional Petroleum Dr. Sol Bobst, ToxiSci Advisors
3:15pm - 3:45pm	Assessment of Health Risks from Early Life Exposures: Are Current Risk Assessment Methods adequate? Prof. Brian Priestly, Monash University • Exposures during early-life stages, including peri- and post-natal periods, can result in different susceptibilities where interactions during critical windows can disrupt specific developmental phases. • Mechanisms addressed include effects on endocrine systems, neural and intra-uterine development and genetic/epigenetic imprinting. • This presentation addresses issues of whether standard risk assessment methods adequately address toxicological endpoints and mechanisms that are associated with narrow windows of early-life exposure.
3:45pm - 4:10pm	Afternoon Tea
	LATE AFTERNOON SESSION Student Travel Grant and Poster Presentations Chair: Dr. Peter Di Marco, Benchmark Toxicology Solutions
4:10pm - 4:25pm	Organic dust exposure: An underestimated risk factor for lung disease in the hemp processing industry. Melinda Gardner, Edith Cowan University
4:25pm - 4:40pm	Assessing the dietary safety of Australian native foods Luke Williams, RMIT University • Current food regulatory frameworks for assessing the dietary safety of traditional foods are hampered by not recognising Traditional Knowledge and also a lack of safety data. • This presentation explores: the history of use and today’s intended use of First Nations foods; employing compositional studies and in vitro bioassays to provide supporting evidence for their safe use and market approval; and how to better consider the stories, knowledge and interests of Traditional-Owner groups.
4:40pm - 4:50pm	Student Travel Grant Q&A and Presentation
4:50pm - 5:05pm	Virtual Poster Presentations
	Multitask deep learning enables combined QSAR modelling of S. typhimurium strain and S9 metabolism data for mechanistic Ames mutagenicity prediction Raymond Lui, University of Sydney
	Biomonitoring of metal neurotoxins in residents living at and near an open beaching shipwrecking yard in Bangladesh Md. Nazrul Islam, University of Queensland
	Challenges in the characterization of the developmental neurotoxicity for the risk assessment of C9-C14 hydrocarbon solvents Dr. Clotilde Maurice, Health Canada
5:05pm - 5:20pm	Discussion and Questions
5:30pm	Close of Day 1 of Annual Scientific Meeting

Friday 27 August 2021

	MORNING SESSION Neurotoxicology / Toxinology Chair: Dr. Kerry Nugent, AICIS
9:00am - 9:50am	Case Study: Assessing Neurotoxicity Risks of Industrial Chemicals Dr. Sue Marty, Dow Chemical Company • Applying integrated approaches to testing and assessment (IATAs) for the evaluation of neurotoxicity and developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) • Requirements for reliable in vivo assessments of neurobehavioral and neuropathological effects • New approach methods (NAMs): advantages, limitations and points to consider in their application to assess neurotoxicity and DNT
9:50am - 10:30am	An Introduction to Clinical Toxinology in Australia Prof. Julian White, University of Adelaide and SA Health
10:30am - 11:10am	Bugs and Drugs: Venoms as a Platform for Human Therapeutics for Pain Prof. Glenn King, University of Queensland
11:10am - 11:40am	Morning Tea
	LATE MORNING SESSION Epidemiology Chair: Ian Delaere, SA Health
11:40am - 12:10pm	Integration of Epidemiology into Regulating Neurotoxicants LCDR Aaron Niman, United States Environmental Protection Agency • Provide an overview of U.S. EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) • Highlight key elements of the review framework used by (OPP) to evaluate epidemiologic research on pesticides • Describe a case study on a recent regulatory evaluation of epidemiological research on Paraquat and Parkinson’s disease
12:10pm - 12:40pm	Vaccines and our nervous system - is there an adverse risk? A/Prof. Nicholas Wood, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) • Overview of what we know about autism • Overview of what we know about vaccines • Communicating about autism and vaccines with parents
12:40pm - 1:10pm	Why Does the Large-Scale Agrochemical Use of Fipronil in Australia Not Result in Acute Neurotoxicity? A Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modelling Explanation. Dr. Rhian Cope, Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority The presentation will demonstrate, based on PBPK modelling, the dispositional reasons why fipronil agrochemical products, when used in accordance with their label instructions, do not result in occupationally-associated acute neurotoxicity.
1:10pm - 2:10pm	Lunch
	EARLY AFTERNOON SESSION Food and Consumer Products Chair: Dr. Andrew Harman, Harman Legal
2:10pm - 2:40pm	Dietary Neurotoxins: How Do We Ensure Food is Safe? Dr. Rosalind Dalefield, FSANZ NZ • A number of food ingredients and food contaminants have neurotoxic potential. • How Food Standards Australia New Zealand evaluates and manages neurotoxic hazards is summarized, in the context of the Food Standards Code and other activities • Some recent and current challenges concerning neurotoxicity are described.
2:40pm - 2:55pm	How certain are we about the uncertainty factors? Review of the derivation of the dietary guidelines for PFOS and wildlife Ruth Jarman, enRisks • When the UF for birds and mammals and PFOS go missing from site-specific ERAs, Ruth, Matt, Toby, Eli and Mouse the Cat need to find them fast, because an Environmental Auditor needs Ruth to tell him if a report is all OK. • Where did the UF go and what are they based on? What UF do Australian and International experts normally adopt for an ERA? How does changing the UF change the screening levels guidelines for PFOS and birds and mammals - should Mouse the Cat be concerned? • A presentation for lovers of science and Enid Blyton, with lots of references to existing stories, reports and scientific publications.
2:55pm - 3:10pm	Air Pollution and the Central Nervous System Nathan Aust, WSP • Air pollution may increase the risk of cerebrovascular and neurological disorders such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, cognitive dysfunction, and other related conditions • Air pollutants can access the brain through different pathways, directly or indirectly, where they may act through numerous cellular and molecular mechanisms to cause disease. • Neurological disorders now represent the largest cause of disability-adjusted life-years and this may have implications for future health risk assessments
3:10pm - 3:40pm	Afternoon Tea
	LATE AFTERNOON SESSION Substances of abuse Chair: Jackii Shepherd, Worksafe ACT
3:40pm - 4:10pm	Neurotoxicity and Substances of Abuse Dr. Roger Drew, Drew Toxicology Consulting
4:10pm - 4:25pm	Petroleum hydrocarbons – A case study on the evolution of risk assessment practice in Australia Judith Barnes, Senversa The assessment of petroleum contamination provides an informative case-study on the evolution of contaminated land risk assessment in Australia. This presentation looks at how risk assessment has changed over time and examines potential drivers including economic, changes to guidance and legislation, improvements in monitoring and understanding of toxicity information as well as community engagement and understanding. The evolution of petroleum risk assessment suggests how risk assessment practice in contaminated sites can advance for other chemicals such as PFAS.
4:25pm - 4:40pm	Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons and the risk assessment of mixtures – past, present and future Dr. Len Turczynowicz, University of Adelaide School of Public Health • The basis to the human health risk assessment of petroleum hydrocarbons mixtures • The current Australian regulatory position and adaptations to early derivation work • Future considerations in inhalation dosimetry for volatile hydrocarbon components.
4:40pm - 4:55pm	Evaluation of Soil-vapour Data and Lines of Evidence for Assessing Human Health Risk from Inhalation Exposure to Petroleum Hydrocarbons at Proposed Development Sites Giorgio De Nola, SLR Consulting
4:55pm - 5:10pm	Modelled vs Measured: Are Johnson & Ettinger Vapour Intrusion Models Realistic? Sheridan Chapman, Edith Cowan University • Examination of Johnson & Ettinger vapour intrusion model usage and inputs • How do measured indoor air concentrations reflect modelled concentrations? • Case study and future research
5:10pm - 5:30pm	Discussion and Questions
5:30pm	Close of Annual Scientific Meeting