The GeoTox Package: Open-source software for connecting spatiotemporal exposure to individual and population-level risk.

medRxiv

Predictive Toxicology Branch, Division of Translational Toxicology, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 530 Davis Dr, Durham, 27713, NC, USA.

Published: November 2024

Background: Comprehensive environmental risk characterization, encompassing physical, chemical, social, ecological, and lifestyle stressors, necessitates innovative approaches to handle the escalating complexity. This is especially true when considering individual and population-level diversity, where the myriad combinations of real-world exposures magnify the combinatoric challenges. The GeoTox framework offers a tractable solution by integrating geospatial exposure data from source-to-outcome in a series of modular, interconnected steps.

Results: Here, we introduce the open-source R software package for characterizing the risk of perturbing molecular targets involved in adverse human health outcomes based on exposure to spatially-referenced stressor mixtures. We demonstrate its usage in building computational workflows that incorporate individual and population-level diversity. Our results demonstrate the applicability of GeoTox for individual and population-level risk assessment, highlighting its capacity to capture the complex interplay of environmental stressors on human health.

Conclusions: The package represents a significant advancement in environmental risk characterization, providing modular software to facilitate the application and further development of the GeoTox framework for quantifying the relationship between environmental exposures and health outcomes. By integrating geospatial methods with cutting-edge exposure and toxicological frameworks, offers a robust tool for assessing individual and population-level risks from environmental stressors. is freely available at https://niehs.github.io/GeoTox/.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11469396PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.23.24314096DOI Listing

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