New publication: Chemical Standardization of Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum L.) Extract Using UHPLC-MS/MS and the Method of Standard Addition
A new paper from the HESI Botanical Safety Consortium describes the development and validation of a novel method for quantifying the constituents in milk thistle extracts to ensure consistency and reliability in efficacy and toxicity research. Milk thistle has been used for its purported hepatoprotective properties and other reported health benefits. Given that it is a complex…
New publication: Screening tools to evaluate the neurotoxic potential of botanicals: building a strategy to assess safety
A recent article from the Botanical Safety Consortium (BSC) Neurotoxicity Working Group aims to evaluate existing NAMs for neurotoxicity screening of botanicals as complex mixtures. The article provides background on three assays or models for neuroactivity screening (C. elegans, zebrafish embryos, and multi-electrode arrays) and well-studied botanicals used as case studies for neurotoxicity, including aconite and oleander. Article…
New publication: Prediction of physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties of botanical constituents by computational models
A newly published study from the Botanical Safety Consortium, selected for the cover of Journal of Applied Toxicology, used computational models to predict the physiochemical and pharmacokinetic properties of botanical constituents. This study investigated 103 major compounds from 13 botanicals (e.g., ashwagandha, kratom, and yohimbe), providing insights into their absorption, bioavailability, and safety profiles. The in-silico…
New publication: Within-laboratory reproducibility of Ames test results: Are repeat tests necessary?
A cross-sector group of experts from the Health and Environmental Sciences Institutes (HESI)’s Botanical Safety Consortium (BSC) and Genetic Toxicology Technical Committee (GTTC) analyzed data from the National Toxicology Program (NTP) Ames test database to evaluate the need for repeat testing when assessing the mutagenic and carcinogenic potential of chemical compounds. Key Findings: High reproducibility for initial positive and…
Botanical Safety Consortium Summit 2024
Thursday October 10 and Friday October 11 2024 In-person: The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Durham, NC, USA Virtual: TBA Draft Agenda – Online Only View The Recording The Botanical Safety Consortium (BSC) will hold it’s first in-person meeting (with virtual option) at NIEHS in Durham, NC in October 2024. The in-person meeting…
New publication: Advancing botanical safety
Advancing botanical safety: A strategy for selecting, sourcing, and characterizing botanicals for developing toxicological tools. Waidyanatha et al., February 2024. Food and Chemical Toxicology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2024.114537 Increases in botanical use, encompassing herbal medicines and dietary supplements, have underlined a critical need for an advancement in safety assessment methodologies. This manuscript highlights: 1) Botanical Safety Consortium’s strategy for…
New publication in Food and Chemical Toxicology
Neuroactivity screening of botanical extracts using microelectrode array (MEA) recordings Regina G.D.M. van Kleef, Michelle R. Embry, Constance A. Mitchell, Remco H.S. Westerink. Food and Chemical Toxicology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2024.114438 The HESI Botanical Safety Consortium collaborates to develop screening strategies that can efficiently identify botanical-induced toxicity. The study presented here evaluates the applicability of in vitro multi-well microelectrode…
International Congress on Natural Products Research (ICNPR)
13 – 17 July 2024 The Botanical Safety Consortium is holding a training course as part of the meeting on Saturday 13 July entitled “Cultivating Safety: Toxicology 101 of Botanicals and Natural Products.“ This course will offer a deep dive into the world of botanicals, bridging the gap between their traditional uses and modern applications in supplements,…
ICSB 2024
15 -18 April 2024 The Botanical Safety Consortium will be in attendance and presenting at the 22nd International Conference on the Science of Botanicals. Speakers include Connie Mitchell (HESI), and committee members Cynthia Rider (NIEHS), Amy Roe (P&G), Bill Gurley (U of Mississippi), and Holly Johnson (AHPA).
34th German Society for Environmental Mutation Research Meeting (GUM)
20 – 22 March 2024 The Botanical Safety Consortium will present two posters at the 34th German Society for Environmental Mutation Research Meeting (GUM). When: 20 – 22 March, 2024 Where: Kaiserslautern, Germany A Strategy for Developing a Robust Framework of Genotoxicity Assays for Safety Assessment of Botanicals The Botanical Safety Consortium: Collaborative Effort to…
The Botanical Safety Consortium (BSC) was officially convened in November 2019, as the result of a Memorandum of Understanding between the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and the non-profit Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI).
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Our current charge is to evaluate the suitability of assays for botanicals as complex mixtures.
Latest News
Toxicology 101 for Botanicals & Natural Products: A Hands-On Short Course at ICSB 2026
19 April 2026 The Botanical Safety Consortium (BSC) is offering a special training course titled “Cultivating Safety: Toxicology 101 for Botanicals and Natural Products” on Sunday, April…
Society of Toxicology 2026 Annual Meeting and ToxExpo
22 – 25 March 2026 The Botanical Safety Consortium will be attending SOT 2026 in San Diego, CA, USA. Presentations Tuesday 24 March 9:15 am PT Evaluating the…
11th German Pharm-Tox Summit
17 – 20 March 2026 The Botanical Safety Consortium will have a poster presentation on Thursday, March 19th at the 11th German Pharm-Tox Summit. Poster Number: P265Title: The…
New publication: An exploratory evaluation of the interaction risk between herbal products and pharmaceutical medicines used concurrently for disease management in Blantyre, Malawi
🌿 The Botanical Safety Consortium (BSC) has released a timely new study as part of its Global Outreach Program: “An exploratory evaluation of the interaction risk between herbal…
New publication: Dose-response assessment of neuroactive botanical extracts and their bioactive constituents using microelectrode array (MEA) recordings in rat primary cortical cultures
The Botanical Safety Consortium (BSC) has published a new study titled “Dose-response assessment of neuroactive botanical extracts and their bioactive constituents using microelectrode array (MEA) recordings in rat…
New publication: From Vision to Reality: Five Years of the Botanical Safety Consortium
The Botanical Safety Consortium (BSC) was launched in 2019 to unite scientists from government, industry, academia, and non-profit organizations in advancing the safety evaluation of botanicals as complex…
New publication: Developing an approach for evaluating the cardiotoxic potential of botanicals
Botanical supplements are widely used but often lack rigorous safety testing – especially for potential cardiotoxicity. A new publication from the HESI Botanical Safety Consortium’s Cardiotoxicity Working Group…
Botanical Safety Consortium 2025 Annual Meeting
Event Recap • 2025 BSC Annual Meeting • 5-6 November 2025 Day 1 Recordings Join HESI Global’s Botanical Safety Consortium for its 2025 BSC Annual Meeting, a two-day…
New publication: A multi-detector analytical approach for characterizing complex botanical extracts: a case study on ashwagandha.
A multi-detector analytical approach for characterizing complex botanical extracts: a case study on ashwagandha. Sica et al. Anal Bioanal Chem (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-025-06006-8 Ensuring the safety and authenticity of…
2025 Personal Care Products Council Science Symposium & Expo
29 October 2025 HESI Global’s Connie Mitchell presents at the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) Science Symposium & Expo on October 29, 2025. Her talks is titled “Rooted in Science:…
