Support from the Society of Toxicology Global Initiatives Fund helped defray the travel expenses of speakers at a symposium at the recent XIII International Congress of Toxicology meeting in Seoul, South Korea. The title of this symposium was “Applications of Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) Modeling in Risk Assessment of Environmental Contaminants.” The overall objective of the session was to introduce basic principles and applications of PBPK modeling to attendees with limited knowledge of the field. Our aim was for such members of the audience to gain an appreciation of how internal dosimetry predictions can be derived and used to reduce uncertainties in health risk assessments of some common environmental contaminants. Kyu-Bong Kim and I co-chaired the symposium.
The speakers, their affiliations and topics, in order of the presentations were Dr. Bruckner, University of Georgia, "Incorporation of Maturational Changes in Pyrethroid Kinetics into PBPK Models for Children;" Miyoung Yoon, the Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, "Evaluating Early Life Sensitivity to Pyrethroids by PBPK Modeling Supported by In Vitro Data;" Gunnar Johanson, Karolinska Institute, "Derivation of Chemical-Specific Assessment Factors by Population PBPK Modeling;" Hiroshi Yamazaki, Showa Pharmaceutical University (Tokyo, Japan), "Acrylonitrile Concentrations Hypothetically Modeled in Humans;" and Kyu-Bong Kim, Dankook University (Chenon, Korea), "Risk Assessment of Cadmium Using PBPK Modeling for a Korean Population. Each speaker is a SOT member. The symposium was co-sponsored by the Biological Modeling and Risk Assessment Specialty Sections of SOT, as well as the Korean Society of Toxicology.