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.

Current activities in this area:

• Task Force on Guidance for classification of reproductive toxicants under GHS
• Task Force on Analysis of existing risk assessment approaches for PBT/vPvB chemicals or POPs
• Task Force on Application of critical body burden in RA of SVHC
• Task Force on Assessment and evaluation of dermal risks from industrial chemicals
• Task Force on Read across/QSARs/environmental MoA for pharmaceuticals
• Joint Workshop with ILSI-HESI: Using MoA information to improve regulatory decision making (November 2009).
• Involvement in the EU 6th Framework Programme: OSIRIS Project (Advisory Committee).
• Involvement in the ECHA Partner Expert Groups.
• Involvement in the ECVAM Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC)
• Monitoring of an LRI project: Evaluation of signal transduction pathways in model organisms as critical indicators of developmental toxicity
• Monitoring of an LRI project: Overcoming current limitations in metabolism prediction of industrial chemicals
• Monitoring of an LRI project: A toxicogenomic approach to enhance the specificity and predictive value of the murine local lymph node assay
• Monitoring of an LRI project: Database for Reprotox (FeDTex)Monitoring of an LRI project: BCF database/extension
• Monitoring of an LRI project: Fish cell line & embryo assays
• Monitoring of an LRI project: Environmental relevance of laboratory bioconcentration test

Recent publications and completed activities:

• Published Article: A modular approach to the extended one-generation reproduction toxicity study. ATLA (2009)
• Technical Report 107: Addendum to targeted risk assessment report TR 93 (2009)
• Technical Report 104: Framework for the integration of human and animal data in chemical risk assessment (2009)
• Symposium at World Congress on Animal Alternatives: Animal use/chemicals and pesticides (2009
• Session at EUROTOX 2008: ‘ITS: current status and the way forward'
• Document 45: Triggering/waiving criteria for the extended one-generation reproduction toxicity studies (2008)
• Workshop Report 12: Triggering/waiving criteria for the extended one-generation reproduction toxicity studies (2008)
• Workshop Report 11: Application of ‘omics' in toxicology and ecotoxicology: case studies and RA (2008)
• Workshop Report 10: Workshop on biodegradation and persistence (2007)
• Workshop Report 09: Workshop on the refinement of mutagenicity/genotoxicity testing (2007)
• Technical Report 102: Intelligent testing strategies in ecotoxicology: mode of action approach for specifically acting chemicals (2007)
• Technical Report 101: Guidance for setting occupational exposure limits: emphasis on data-poor substances (2006)
• Workshop Report 07: Testing strategies to establish the safety of nanomaterials (2006)
• Technical Report 99: Toxicological modes of action: relevance for human risk assessment (2006
• Technical Report 98: Risk assessment of PBT chemicals (2005)
• Technical Report 97: Alternative testing approaches in environmental risk assessment (2005)
• Workshop Report 05: Alternative testing approaches in environmental risk assessment (2004)
• Technical Report 93: Targeted risk assessment (2004)