This week, Blue Frog Scientific is attending the British Toxicology Society Annual Congress in Liverpool.

Sophie Kaszuba, one of our Blue Frog toxicology consultants, will be presenting a commentary on lactational transfer within developmental and reproductive toxicity (DART) studies.

DART studies are intended to be amongst the most powerful in vivo studies to support safety evaluation of chemicals, and as such are some of the largest, most complex and most expensive. However, Sophie’s work highlights that when it comes to lactational transfer – an essential evaluation whereby the potential for substances to transfer via milk from mother to their offspring is considered – there is a lack of clarity in the guideline, both in relation to evaluating transfer itself, and to the practicalities of direct dosing for extremely small pups, where no transfer is identified.

The outcome is that often lactational transfer is either not fully evaluated, or where no transfer is proven and offspring need to be directly dosed from a very early life stage, there are large issues posed relating to animal welfare and technical standardisation.

Sophie’s poster outlines the issues at hand, the immediate need for further clarity within guidelines, and thoughts on how to address this.

If you’re at the BTS Congress 2025, please stop by, join the conversation and share your thoughts.