This release of CoMeta introduces CoMeta Themes, a new way to look at a set of related risks. The release also includes a redesigned homepage and blog page, six new Litagion agent profiles, and a host of updated Litagion agent profiles impacted by newly published peer-reviewed science.
CoMeta Themes
CoMeta currently profiles more than 240 individual risks. While each risk can be understood by itself, it is natural to want to compare and contrast individual risks, and all the more so when those risks share features in common. Technically-speaking, a theme in CoMeta is nothing more than a collection of latent mass liabilities – hypothetical law suits distinguished by a set of plaintiffs making a common claim against members of a single defendant industry. But what makes a theme interesting is the feature that the latent mass liabilities share in common: the functionality of the Litagion agent (e.g., flame retardants), the way the Litagion agent affects health (e.g., obesogens), or the way in which individuals are exposed to a set of Litagion agents (e.g., 3D printing) to give just a few examples.
This initial release contains five topical themes – engineered nanoparticles, obesogens, cannabis, the toxic trio, and additive manufacturing – and we’ll be adding at least one new theme to CoMeta each release going forward. This release also includes two functional themes – new content and trending science – that make accessing CoMeta’s latest risk profiles and monitoring risks with rapidly evolving science easier than ever. Every theme will be updated with each CoMeta release to reflect changes in the underlying drivers of latency catastrophe risk.
Individual theme pages consist of a set of thumbnail data (1) and blog (2) cards that then open to more detailed views. The data cards – science, liability risk, severity, industries, companies, and economy-wide losses – and detail tables underlying them provide high-level summary information that allow the user to compare data points across a set of related Litagion agents. Users can link to individual Litagion agent profiles from within the detail tables to learn more about an individual risk.
Please take a look at the blog "Introducing CoMeta Themes!" for an example of how users can learn about a related set of risks using CoMeta Themes.
Redesigned homepage and blog page
The redesigned CoMeta homepage features recently published themes and blogs in a carousel (3). From the carousel, users can also navigate to the new content and trending science theme pages (4). Users can navigate to Litagion agent, damage, industry, company, and scenario profiles via the Event Set menu (5) at the top of every CoMeta page or via the icons at the bottom of the homepage (5).
The CoMeta blog page has been updated with a new look and feel. Users can retrieve blogs by searching the title and body text. Each blog is also tagged with relevant CoMeta data elements.
New Litagion agent profiles
We have replaced the existing marijuana Litagion agent profile with three more specific marijuana related profiles: cannabis (ingested), cannabis (inhaled), and cannabidiol (CBD). We have also added three new Litagion agent profiles with this release:
- Blue light. Part of the visible light spectrum in the range of 380-500 nanometers which is emitted from light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and other sources.
- Dibutyltin salts. Organotin compounds with a variety of uses including as a heat stabilizer in polyvinyl chloride resin and polyurethanes.
- Diethylene glycol dibenzoate. A phthalate substitute used in, among other applications, adhesives, caulks, and sealants.
Updated Litagion agent based on newly published science
In this release, all Litagion agent profiles have been updated to reflect the most recently published peer-reviewed science. A notable scientific study added to CoMeta since the last release is:
- Dietary Salt: A meta-analysis using a cohort of 39,065 people confirmed the association between salt consumption and osteoporosis.
In addition, we highlight the following changes to the components of Litagion agent risk resulting from recently published peer-reviewed science:
| Litagion agent | Risk category change | Overall risk change |
|---|---|---|
| Diisononyl phthalate | Projected science risk change from Medium-low (light green) to Medium (yellow). | No change |
| Antimony | Projected science risk change from Low (green) to Medium-low (light green). | No change |