Acute inhalation systemic toxicity tests identify substances that could cause illness or death after a single inhaled exposure. NICEATM facilitates interactions among stakeholder groups interested in developing and promoting alternatives to animal use for these tests.
A cooperative agreement under the NIEHS Phase IIb Small Business Innovation Research program provided funding to MatTek Corporation to validate its EpiAirway™ in vitro human bronchial tissue model to predict the toxicity of inhaled chemicals. Testing of reference chemicals to determine the usefulness and limitations of EpiAirway for this purpose has been completed. Several ICCVAM agency representatives are members of the cooperative agreement steering committee.