Using Scientific Workflows to Evaluate Human and Environmental Impacts from Chemical Exposures
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Holistic evaluation of chemical impacts requires integration of disparate data streams, modelling of interactions among physical and biological systems, and consideration of tradeoffs associated with management decisions. Over the years, environmental health scientists have developed a variety of models that use available data with other mechanistic information to understand how chemicals in products move through the natural and built environment. Each new problem incrementally advances data, models, and understanding. To efficiently address problems of increasing complexity and enable greater insights, more nimble modeling methodologies are required to assess important chemical exposure scenarios and pathways across the chemical/product lifecycle. A scientific workflow is designed to execute a series of data manipulation and computational steps to provide outputs tailored to decision-making contexts. For chemical assessments, scientific workflows are useful tools for efficient and transparent analyses, especially for considering impacts in complex systems. To demonstrate this approach, we use relatively data-rich chemicals as test cases to drive conceptual workflow development including flame retardants and ethoxylated solvents. The goal is to advance the workflows for efficient evaluation of a variety of chemicals and a range of decision contexts.