New Task Force on Chemical Risk Assessment of Plastic Additives

To support safer assessments of plastic additives and associated chemicals, ECETOC just launched a Task Force dedicated to evaluating the state of the science and applying risk assessment principles to these substances, particularly within the framework of the circular economy.

Key Focus Areas:

• Assessing current risk assessment approaches for plastic additives and identifying gaps in the context of recyclability and circularity.
• Developing a framework tailored to the unique challenges of assessing chemicals in polymer matrices, both in their initial use and after recycling.

Coordination and Collaboration: The Task Force will build on ECETOC’s previous work with polymers and incorporate insights from various stakeholders, including additives producers, plastics manufacturers, and global regulatory agencies. This initiative aims to provide a robust scientific foundation to support ongoing negotiations and regulatory developments related to plastics and their associated chemicals.

Timeline and Deliverables:

• The first deliverable will be a manuscript outlining the current state of the science and identifying key gaps, targeted for completion by the second quarter of 2025.
• Subsequent phases may include the development of research projects to address identified challenges and additional publications to apply risk assessment principles to novel issues, such as non-intentionally added substances (NIAS).

We are looking for members of academia and regulatory bodies to join this group - so please get in contact with Victor if you're interested in contributing!