ECETOC at a glance

Established in 1978, ECETOC is Europe’s leading industry association for developing and promoting top quality science in human and environmental risk assessment of chemicals.  Members include the main companies with interests in the manufacture and use of chemicals, biomaterials and pharmaceuticals, and organisations active in these fields.  ECETOC is the scientific forum where member company experts meet and co-operate with government and academic scientists, to evaluate and assess the available data, identify gaps in knowledge and recommend research, and publish critical reviews on the ecotoxicology and toxicology of chemicals, biomaterials and pharmaceuticals.

ECETOC also provides scientific representation for its member companies through presentations at specialist meetings and by participation in the scientific activities of international agencies, government authorities and professional societies.  A non-profit, non-commercial and non-governmental organisation, ECETOC prides itself on the objectivity and integrity of its work programme, the output of which is published in the form of peer-reviewed reports and articles in peer-reviewed journals, or as specialised workshops.

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ECETOC’s approach

ECETOC believes that by identifying developing issues at their nascence, the chemicals industry will be better placed to undertake the appropriate scientific initiatives. An over-arching science strategy serves to guide ECETOC’s science programme and uses an issues, rather than activity-based approach.

What does it involve?

The premise of this strategy is that ECETOC plays an integral role in science in society. Its particular remit is to contribute objective scientific evidence to the debate about the role of chemicals in the causality of disease and assure the process of risk assessment of these chemicals.

It does so via the pursuit of the following 5 broad themes:

    Presence of chemicals in humans
    Presence of chemicals in the environment
    Effects on humans and ecosystems
    Methods
    Science of risk assessment.

This science strategy is also used as a basis for working with other stakeholders, such as academia, regulators, associations and international institutions to ensure that objective scientific evidence is used to provide the highest quality risk assessment of chemical products that minimises wherever possible the use of animals in testing.

ECETOC currently pursues the following 10 strategic science areas:

Presence of chemicals in humans.

Chemicals in human tissue

Chemicals in human tissue
Objective:
Ensure that the results of biomonitoring studies are placed into appropriate context within risk assessment to human health.

Mixtures

Mixtures and co-exposure
Objective:
Contribute to the development of a pragmatic, realistic, and science-based framework for the risk assessment of chemical mixtures.

Presence of chemicals in the environment

Assessment of environmental fate and behaviour

Assessment of environmental fate and behaviour
Objective:
Develop the understanding of environmental processes that drive the fate and behaviour of chemicals and the role of these processes in risk assessment.

Effects in humans and ecosystems

Reproductive health

Reproductive health
Objective:
Ensure that the methods and the testing strategy to identify and characterise developmental and reproductive toxicants are appropriate and optimised.

Biodiversity and ecosystems

Biodiversity and ecosystems
Objective:
Identify the key science issues relevant to risk assessment of chemicals in the environment in a way that is relevant to the potential impact on biodiversity of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Methods

Integrated testing strategies Integrated testing strategies
Objective:
Contribute to a more effective approach to hazard and risk assessment. This should also support the further development and application of alternative approaches to hazard assessment, and thereby improve the workability of REACH. Good ITS approaches can reduce cost and use of animals while providing best quality data for the risk assessment process.
Risk assessment of nanomaterials

Risk assessment of nanomaterials
Objective:
Develop a series of approaches for addressing health and environmental effects of nanomaterials.

Science of risk assessment

Role of chemicals in the causality of disease

Role of chemicals in the causality of disease
Objective:
Put the presumed associations between chemicals in the environment and disease into their proper scientific perspective. The focus is particularly directed towards rigorous methodology in observational epidemiology.

Risk, hazard and precaution

Risk, hazard and precaution
Objective:
Take into account all available scientific tools to adequately characterise risk not only based on hazard characteristics but also on exposure data and dose-response considerations.

Science in society

Science in society
Objective:
Improve public confidence in the science of risk assessment and to promote its use in public policy actions. This includes the need to counter the perceptions of bias, vested interest and lack of quality assurance of industry generated data.

 

Health Sciences

 

Christa Hennes
Health Sciences Manager
Dr. Christa Hennes

Dr. Christa Hennes joined ECETOC as health sciences manager in October 2002.  She has been in charge of managing a number of task forces and workshops, supporting the development of the REACH Technical Guidance Document, and is scientific secretary to the ECETOC Scientific Committee.

Dr. Hennes obtained a Diploma in Chemistry from the University Braunschweig and a Ph.D. in Water Chemistry/Technology from the University Karlsruhe.  She spent her Post-doc at the Engler-Bunte-Institute Karlsruhe and at Stanford University on environmental speciation modelling for heavy metals and organic acids.

During her 15 years working for the consumer goods industry, Procter & Gamble, in Belgium, Turkey, Germany and the USA, she handled product safety and regulatory affairs for a range of product categories and in several business units.   She has extensive experience in active participation in working groups of industry associations and scientific organisations, including chairing a committee, in particular in those of the European detergent, nonwoven and disposables, and tissue industries, and in ECETOC.

In the past, Dr. Hennes was a member of the German Chemical Society's sections on Water and Detergent Chemistry, the US Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.  More recently, she has been active in the European Toxicology Society.

Current task forces
Upcoming workshops, symposia and other meeting
Recent meetings
Supporting the Cefic-LRI
Latest publications
  • Technical Report No. 116: Category approaches, read-across (Q)SAR (November 2012)
  • Technical Report No. 115: Effects of Chemical Co-exposures at Doses Relevant for Human Safety Assessments (Published July 2012)
  • Technical Report No. 115 - Appendix B:  Evaluation of primary references considered relevant for this report
  • Article: Hennes EC. 2012. An overview of values for the threshold of toxicological concern. Toxicology Letters 211(3):296–303 doi: 10.1016/j.toxlet.2012.03.795
  • Article: Hennes EC, Galay Burgos M, Hamer M, Pemberton M, Travis K, Rodriguez C. 2012. Workshop: Combined exposure to chemicals. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 63:53-54. doi: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2012.02.008
  • Workshop Report No. 22: Workshop on Combined Exposure to Chemicals 11-12 July 2011, Berlin (Published October 2011)
  • Technical Report No. 113: Environmental Impact Assessment for Socio-Economic Analysis of Chemicals: Principles and Practice (Published August 2011)
  • Article: Heinrich J. 2011. Influence of indoor factors in dwellings on the development of childhood asthma. Int.J.Hygene and Environmental Health 214:1-25. (Review commisioned by ECETOC) doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2010.08.009
  • Workshop Report No. 20: Workshop on Guidance on Assessment Factors to Derive a DNEL (Published December 2010)
  • Technical Report No. 110: Guidance on Assessment Factors to Derive a DNEL (Published October 2010)
  • Article: McGregor D, Boobis A, Binaglia M, Botham P, Hoffstadt L, Hubbard S, Petry T, Riley A, Schwartz D, Hennes C. 2009. Guidance for the classification of carcinogens under the globally harmonised system of classification and labelling of chemicals (GHS). Critical Reviews in Toxicology 40, 3, 245-285. doi:10.3109/10408440903384717 / Corringendum Vol. 40, No. 8: 758 (Sep 2010) doi:10.3109/10408444.2010.511521
  • Article: Loveless SE, Api A-M, Crevel RWR, Debruyne E, Gamer A, Jowsey IR, Kern P, Kimber I, Lea L, Lloyd P, Mehmood Z, Steiling W, Veenstra G, Woolhiser M, Hennes C. 2009. Potency values from the local lymph node assay: application to classification, labelling and risk assessment. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 56, 54-66 doi:10.1016/j.yrtph.2009.08.016
  • Article: Moore N, Bremer S, Carmichael N, Daston G, Dent M, Gaoua-Chapelle W, Hallmark N, Hartung T, Holzum B, Hübel U, Meisters M-L, Schneider S, van Ravenzwaay B, Hennes C. 2009. Modular approach to the extended one-generation reproduction toxicity study. ATLA volume 37, pp 219-225, 2009 http://www.frame.org.uk/atla_article.php?art_id=1164&abstract=true
To contact Christa, please call: +32 2 675 36 00 or send an e-mail to: info@ecetoc.org

 

Environmental Sciences

 

Malyka Galay Burgos
Environmental Sciences Manager
Dr. Malyka Galay Burgos

As the Environmental Sciences Manager within the secretariat of ECETOC, most of Malyka's work focuses on the current risk assessment and scientific criteria for the limits on the release of chemicals into the environment and the possible effects on human health: multiple stressors, chemical mixture assessment, laboratory to field assessment, structure-activity relationships; mechanisms of exposure and toxicity; sediment and water toxicity, methods and evaluation; risk and hazard assessment; biomarkers; mode of action of metal and xenobiotics; toxicokinetics; factors that modify toxicity; biomonitoring.

For this, she also seeks ways to support the further development and application of alternative approaches to hazard assessment and thereby improve the workability of REACH and good Integrated Testing Strategy (ITS) approaches that reduce costs and the use of animals while providing best quality data for the risk assessment process.

Some of her interests are in strengthening risk assessment through an evolving systems toxicology approach, utilising an understanding of chemical - biological interactions across natural compounds, emerging contaminants and potentially novel marine biotechnologies.

Task Forces

Current

Recently completed

Workshops, symposia and other meetings

Upcoming:

Recent:

EUROECOTOX Network:
Targeted risk assessment (TRA) tools
Supporting the Cefic-LRI
Latest publications
  • Weltje L, Wheeler JR, Weyers A, Galay-Burgos M. 2013. Refinement of the ECETOC approach to identify endocrine disrupting properties of chemicals in ecotoxicology. Toxicology Letters Special Issue. (In Press)
  • Fegert I. 2013. ECETOC Firenze workshop on risk assessment of endocrine substances, including the potency concept. Toxicology Letters Special Issue. (In Press)
  • Lewis RW. 2013.  Risk assessment of ‘Endocrine Substances: Guidance on Identifying Endocrine Disruptors. Toxicology Letters Special Issue. (In Press)
  • Technical Report No. 120: The application of critical body burden in risk assessment (In Press)
  • Workshop Report No. 24: Assessing Environmental Persistence 6-7 November 2012, Paris (In Press)
  • Technical Report No. 118: Development of interim guidance for the inclusion of non-extractable residues (NER) in the risk assessment of chemicals (In Press)
  • Technical Report No. 117: Understanding the relationship between extraction technique and bioavailability (In Press)
  • Package of ECETOC publications on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
  • Bars R, Fegert I, Gross M, Lewis D, Weltje L, Weyers A, Wheeler JR, Galay-Burgos M. 2012. Risk assessment of endocrine active chemicals: Identifying chemicals of regulatory concern. Regul.Toxicology and Pharmacology. 64(1):143-154 Doi:10.1016/j.yrtph.2012.06.013
  • Hennes EC, Galay Burgos M, Hamer M, Pemberton M, Travis K, Rodriguez C. 2012. Workshop: Combined exposure to chemicals. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 63:53-54. Doi: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2012.02.008
  • Technical Report No. 114: ECETOC TRA version 3: Background and Rationale for the Improvements (Published July 2012)
  • Workshop Report No. 23: Epigenetics and Chemical Safety. 5-6 December 2011, Rome (Published May 2012)
  • Workshop Report No.21: Risk Assessment of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals. 9-10 May 2011, Florence (Published October 2011)

  • Technical Report No.112: Refined Approaches for Risk Assessment of PBT/vPvB Chemicals (Published October 2011)

  • Technical Report No.111: Development of guidance for assessing the impact of mixtures of chemicals in the aquatic environment (Published October 2011)

  • Workshop Report No. 22: Workshop on Combined Exposure to Chemicals 11-12 July 2011, Berlin (Published October 2011)
  • Bars R, Broeckaert F, Fegert I, Gross M, Hallmark N, Kedwards T, Lewis D, O’Hagan S, Panter G H, Weltje L, Weyers A, Wheeler J and Galay Burgos M. 2011. Corrigendum to “Science based guidance for the assessment of endocrine disrupting properties of chemicals”. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 60(3):411-412. Doi: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2011.04.005
  • Article: Bars R, Broeckaert F, Fegert I, Gross M, Hallmark N, Kedwards T, Lewis D, Sue O'Hagan, Panter G H, Weltje L, Weyers A, Wheeler J R, Galay Burgos M. 2010. Science based guidance for the assessment of endocrine disrupting properties of chemicals. Regul.Toxicol.Pharmacol 59(1):37-46. doi:10.1016/j.yrtph.2010.09.003

  • Workshop Report No. 19: ‘Omics in (Eco)toxicology: Case Studies and Risk Assessment.
    22-23 February 2010, Málaga (Published June 2010)

  • Article: Embry MR, Belanger SE, Braunbeck TA, Galay Burgos M, Halder M, Hinton DE, Léonard MA, Lillicrap A, Norberg-King T, Whale G. 2010. The fish embryo toxicity test as an animal alternative method in hazard and risk assessment and scientific research. Aquatic Toxicology 97, Issue 2, 15 April 2010, Pages 79-87. doi:10.1016/j.aquatox.2009.12.008

  • Workshop Report No. 17: Significance of Bound Residues in Environmental Risk Assessment.
    14-15 October 2009, Brussels (Published February 2010)

  • Technical Report No. 108: Collation of Existing Marine Biodegradation Data and its Use in Environmental Risk Assessment (Published December 2009)
    (ECETOC Marine Biodegradation Kinetics database (EMBK) published on accompanying CD)

  • Technical report No. 107: Addendum to ECETOC Targeted Risk assessment report No. 93 (Published December 2009)

  • Workshop Report No. 16: Guidance on interpreting endocrine disrupting effects.
    29-30 June 2009, Barcelona (Published October 2009)

  • Technical Report No. 106: Guidance on Identifying Endocrine Disrupting Effects
    (Published June 2009)

  • Workshop Report No. 15: The Probabilistic Approaches for Marine Hazard Assessment.
    18-19 June 2008, Oslo (Published June 2009)

     

    To contact Malyka, please call: +32 2 675 36 00 or send an e-mail to: info@ecetoc.org
Chemicals Programme

 

Henk Vrijhof
Chemicals Programme Manager
lr. Henk Vrijhof

 

Ir. Hendrik (Henk) Vrijhof is a senior staff member and chemicals programme manager at the ECETOC secretariat in Brussels since 1988. He has been scientific secretary of many task forces.

Ir. Vrijhof has a background in environmental sciences (Wageningen University, Netherlands) and worked in national (RIVM) and international (EC, OSPARCOM) government. His interest is in dangerous substances in the environment.

At ECETOC, Ir. Vrijhof has been supporting the series of critical reviews on specific chemicals (Joint Assessment of Commodity Chemicals). In addition, he has co-ordinated various other projects related to toxicogenomics and environmental hazard assessment. He is also secretary of HETRA, the Human Exposure and Tiered Risk Assessment group advising CEFIC-LRI.

Ir. Vrijhof is a member of the Belgian and Dutch professional toxicology and water societies. He has organised a number of symposia together with EEMS, the European Environmental Mutagen Society.

Current task forces
Upcoming workshops, symposia and other meetings
Recent meetings
Supporting the Cefic-LRI
Latest publications
  • JACC Report No.55: Linear Polydimethylsiloxanes CAS No. 63148-62-9 (Second Edition) (December 2011)
  • Technical Report No.109: High information content technologies in support of read-across in chemical risk assessment (December 2010)
  • Article: Donner M, Tran L, Muller J, Vrijhof H. 2010
    Editorial - Genotoxicity of Engineered Nanomaterials
    Nanotoxicology 4:345-346 (December 2010)
    doi:10.3109/17435390.2010.482750

  • Article: Donner M, Tran L, eds. 2010
    Genotoxicity of Engineered Nanomaterials
    Nanotoxicology 4:345-424 (December 2010)
    http://informahealthcare.com/toc/nan/4/4

  • Technical Report No.105 - Evaluation of Cardiac Sensitisation Test Methods (October 2009)
  • Article: Carmichael P, Kirsch-Volders M, Vrijhof H. 2009. Thresholds for genotoxins and their application in risk assessment: Editorial. Mutation Research 678 (2009) 71.doi:10.1016/j.mrgentox.2009.04.012

  • Article: Carmichael P, Kirsch-Volders M, eds. 2009. Thresholds for genotoxins and their application in risk assessment. Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis, vol. 678, n°2, p 71. doi:10.1016/j.mrgentox.2009.04.012

  • Article: Norppa H, Greim H, eds. 2009. Toxicity of engineered nanomaterials. Special Issue Toxicology Letters 186:147-176. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03784274

  • Article: Wiegand H-J, Krüger N, Norppa H, Carmichael N, Greim H, Vrijhof H. 2009. Toxicology of engineered nanomaterials: Introduction. Toxicology Letters 186 (2009) 147. doi:10.1016/j.toxlet.2008.09.019

  • Technical Report No. 104 - Framework for the Integration of Human and Animal Data in Chemical Risk Assessment (January 2009)
To contact Henk, please call: +32 2 675 36 00 or send an e-mail to: info@ecetoc.org

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