ECETOC announces launch of new activities in 2023

Besides continuing its ongoing work, ECETOC is planning to launch a series of new activities in 2023, including many that sparked from presentations and discussions at the 2022 Scoping Meeting.

Here's a brief overview of upcoming initiatives:

• Two Task Forces have kicked off their activity in January 2023, after being proposed by the ECETOC Human Health Transformational Programme to the Scientific Committee in autumn of 2022. The ‘Smart studies’ Task Force will work on parallel streams i.e. (i) reviewing the existing toxicological studies and assessing the differences and how uncertainties can be reduced; (ii) preparing an inventory of technologies and what questions they can address. The ‘Staged assessment’ Task Force will focus on exemplifying the staged assessment process by using it to provide more information in low tonnage bands, working with the current classification system as far as possible. Both Task Forces aim to complete the work within 12 months. An initial call for participants among members was circulated at the end of 2022. Interested representatives from academia and regulatory bodies are welcome to join, so contact us if you’re interested!
• The Task Force on Dose setting guidance in OECD test guidelines, expected to kick-off the work in February 2023, will focus on building on the TR 138 and preparing further justification to address the current discussion at OECD level regarding the dose setting guidance in OECD guidelines. The Task Force will be joined by a Cefic representative.
• Workshop on the topic of ‘Exposure-led programme for a step-change in human and environmental safety and sustainability assessment of chemicals’, potentially to be held jointly with the International Society for Exposure Science (ISES), European Chapter. It is anticipated that the workshop will debate the ISES European strategy for 2020-2030 and priorities/implications for ECETOC stakeholders (companies, regulators etc) plus any ECETOC identified priority areas, via a mix of keynotes, interview summaries, pitches and break-outs.

And here are some more activities anticipated to be launched in 2023:

• The Task Force on Grouping approaches - Persistence assessments will identify opportunities to improve and implement grouping approaches in persistence assessments, including consideration of degradation kinetics (including temperature correction), transformation products and non-extractable residues (NER), as well as regulatory acceptance. The deliverables will likely be two peer reviewed publications.
• The Task Force on Omics data interpretation framework will develop a framework for regulatory application. The framework will complement the recently published Omics Data Analysis Framework for regulatory application (R-ODAF). Deliverables are anticipated to be a peer reviewed publication as well as materials that can be used for further outreach/training.
• The Task Force on Assessing risks to biodiversity will consider assessment of risks from chemicals to biodiversity, potential application of models and research gaps identification. The Task Force focus is on problem definition and scope, and may lead into a stakeholder workshop on the topic.

ECETOC members are welcome to join any activity. Not a member yet? Join us! If you are working for a regulatory body or in academia, get in contact with us to find out more about opportunities to collaborate!