The CORESTA In vitro Toxicity Testing of Tobacco Smoke Task Force recommended a test battery in 2004 which has been subsequently used by the tobacco industry. A similar in vitro test battery has been used by the International Community on Harmonisation (ICH) for the genotoxicity testing of pharmaceuticals for human usage since 1994. These assays have been used predominantly in product stewardship risk assessments to measure the effects of the addition of new or increased levels of ingredients added to tobacco.

In 2007, the USA National Research Council (NRC) released the landmark document, “Toxicity testing in the 21st Century - a vision and a strategy”, to provide recommendations for improved assessments of environmental chemicals. Its aims are to increase the use of in vitro models for investigating perturbations in toxicity pathways which should be validated with targeted testing (including the collection of human exposure data). It recommends a move away from in vivo (animal) high dose toxicity studies; to an increased use of multiple in vitro assays. The aims of the presentation are to look at possible modifications and improvements to the current CORESTA testing battery. Also, the implementation of potentially more intelligent testing strategies, to support the in vitro genotoxicity data generated will be discussed.