In your opinion, what are the weaknesses of Key Characteristics? (Select all that apply)

Answer Explanations

• Unclear and/or limited consideration of biological context Too simplistic Overlap of events within the same category (e.g., carcinogencity – “genotoxic” and “is electrophilic or can be metabolically activated”) Lack of harmonization across endpoints Lack of or unknown predictive potential Lack of systematic consideration of causality

  user-75230

  Really helpful for organizing, but not so much assessing mechanistic data.

• Require too much data Unclear and/or limited consideration of biological context Too complex Other (please explain)

  user-61732

  In my opinion, it is a great start. I would like to approach it wider than pure carcinogenic, but more "pathological in the long term".

• Difficult to understand Too simplistic Overlap of events within the same category (e.g., carcinogencity – “genotoxic” and “is electrophilic or can be metabolically activated”) Lack of or unknown predictive potential Lack of systematic consideration of causality Other (please explain)

  user-532952

  Statisticians and editors lack knowledge and use may result in other scientists criticizing/ nullifying the research findings or refusing to pass PhD students

• Unclear and/or limited consideration of biological context Too simplistic Overlap of events within the same category (e.g., carcinogencity – “genotoxic” and “is electrophilic or can be metabolically activated”) Lack of or unknown predictive potential Lack of systematic consideration of causality

  user-390626

  What is a strength of KCC (simplicity) is also a limitation in the degree to which KCC can be used to inform hazard (and especially risk assessment). While chemicals with similar KCC profiles can be considered together as a starting point for hazard characterization, the degree to which any one category informs the general endpoint is still going to vary on a chemical by chemical basis. Furthermore, it is far from clear how many KCs might be required for certain hazard classification (e.g., carcinogen), nor does KCC categorization really inform human relevance.