Advances in technology are enabling researchers to gather and assess individual-level environmental exposure data. Likewise, individuals are also increasingly able to gather data about their own environmental exposures using technologies such as mobile phones; however, the accuracy of the data and their ability to interpret the implications of the data can be limited. An ad hoc committee will organize and convene a public workshop on new technologies and engagement approaches to enhance science and communication with members of the public who contribute data to (or are participants in) environmental health research studies or gather environmental exposure data for their own purposes. This workshop will build upon previous work of the Standing Committee on Emerging Science for Environmental Health decisions including a 2011 meeting, Emerging Technologies for Measuring Individual Exposomes, and a 2015 workshop, Interindividual Variability: New Ways to Study and Implications for Decision Making. The workshop will explore select environmental health research studies, such as environmental epidemiology, human exposure studies, and citizen science projects, and their associated guidance on the evidence-based strategies and ethics for gathering, sharing, and communicating with individuals about the implications of their data and the results of the research project. Potential discussion topics may include:
1) Emerging tools, technologies, and approaches for gathering and sharing individual-level data with members of the public who participate or in other ways contribute to environmental health research;
2) Emerging evidence on the effect of participant engagement on research directions and outcomes;
3) Research and ethical implications of individuals (or communities) collecting and sharing their own environmental exposure data; and
4) The implications of sharing individual environmental health monitoring data for communicating about risk and uncertainty.
A brief summary presentations and discussions at the workshop will be prepared by designated rapporteurs in accordance with institutional guidelines.