Information needs future research

T.S.S.—Assessment of Current Information and Future Research Needs, Institute of Medicine, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1982. 

The future is an extension of the past. The author believes that the process of the progress made in the past is as important as the findings and discoveries for the planning of future research. For this reason, a substantial weight is placed on describing historical accounts. Such information would also help researchers to get some idea of the effort that might be needed to isolate and identify a new luciferin. 

To date, insufficient attention has been given to the economics of pest control. Most reports dealing with pest control include no data on the economics of the methods used. Complete and accurate information about the economics of pest control is needed to guide future research projects and advance the technologies of pest control. 

The following categories of possible data needs have been identified by a joint team of scientists from ATSDR, NTP, and EPA. They are defined as substance-specific informational needs that if met would reduce the uncertainties of human health assessment. This definition should not be interpreted to mean that all data needs discussed in this section must be filled. In the future, the identified data needs will be evaluated and prioritized, and a substance-specific research agenda will be proposed. 

In summary, fires represent a particularly complex problem for toxicologists. The exposure atmospheres are a mixture of many substances, and no two fires are alike. One aspect of the mixture that has received relatively little attention is the particulate component of smokes. From studies on carbon black and on soot in diesel exhaust we now have information on the chronic toxicity of soot. An area in which we need additional information is the potential for fire-generated soot to adsorb toxic materials, and then to deposit and desorb such materials in the lung. For this information we must await the results of future research. 

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