Mid-year update from Blanca Serrano

Dear colleagues,

As we enter summer, I’m pleased to report that our Extraordinary General Meeting was a success. After pointing out last year’s accomplishments, we approved our new statutes and re-elected our Board, affirming our strong foundation for the future. In conjunction with this significant event, we also celebrated the 250th meeting of our ECETOC Scientific Committee. This milestone reflects the dedication and rigorous work that continually drive our initiatives.

At SETAC Sevilla this year, we effectively showcased some of our initiatives across a wide array of important areas such as biodiversity, persistence, New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), endocrine disruption (ED), polymers, and bridging the gap between science and regulation. This highlighted ECETOC’s role as a leading scientific platform for advancing chemical safety assessment and set the stage for future discussions within our community.

As our range of topics expands, it's essential that we carefully prioritize to ensure our efforts are focused on the most impactful areas. Looking forward, expertise in fields like exposure science, life cycle assessment, economics, and computational chemistry, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), will be clearly necessary, and we will aim to expand our network in this direction. This expansion is an exciting development that will enhance our capabilities and ensure that ECETOC remains at the forefront of scientific advancements.

On the theme of future plans, I look forward to connecting with you in person at the upcoming ECETOC and Cefic LRI Scoping Meeting on 24-25 September in Brussels, where we’ll have a chance to discuss next steps and new activities for our organisation.

Finally, I am proud to report that the ECETOC team looks forward to navigating these new challenges with you as we continue to make meaningful contributions to chemical safety and sustainability.

Stay in touch,

Blanca Serrano,

Secretary General, ECETOC