In addition to our experience with fate and transport models, we have also applied physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PB-PK) models to quantitatively understand the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of more than a dozen different chemicals. Our scientists have published more than a 15 papers in this area, and continue to actively work on several projects employing this methodology. The key to such work is to identify the chemical concentration of the putative causative chemical in the target tissue at various administered doses (e.g., exposure levels).

Over the past 20 years, our work has changed how regulatory agencies and the scientific community view not only how chemicals are absorbed into the body, but also how they reach tissues where adverse effects can occur. These models have proved to be powerful tools for helping to select the appropriate doses for toxicology testing of both industrial chemicals and pharmaceutical agents. In addition, we have pioneered techniques for using these models to characterize the incremental or lesser hazard of certain chemicals to infants and children.