TR 114 – ECETOC TRA version 3: Background and Rationale for the Improvements

TR 114 : ECETOC TRA version 3: Background and Rationale for the Improvements | 30 July 2012

SUMMARY

The ECETOC Targeted Risk Assessment (TRA) tool was launched in 2004. The TRA consists of 3 separate models for estimating exposures to workers, consumers and the environment that arise during a series of events ("exposure scenarios"). In order to ensure that the TRA fully aligned with the expectations contained in Chapters R12-R16 of the Technical Guidance on Information Requirements and Chemicals Safety Assessment (IRCSA), ECETOC released version 2 of the TRA in 2009. The general success of the TRA concept is witnessed by the fact that, by the end of 2011, over 10,000 downloads of TRAv2 were made from its website.

Following the completion of Phase 1 of REACH in December 2010, ECETOC approached users of the TRA to seek their ideas for how the TRA might be further improved. The aim of this exercise was to ensure that key learnings arising from the use of the TRA in 2009/10 could be captured into an updated version that would be available for use in Phase 2 of REACH. The intention was not to radically overhaul the TRA, rather to further improve its accuracy and flexibility, within its existing framework. Version 3 of the TRA incorporates a number of enhancements in each of the worker, consumer and environmental sections of the tool. The improvements are intended to increase the overall accuracy and utility of the tool, while still ensuring that the information and skill requirements necessary to develop the associated exposure predictions remain compatible with Tier 1 expectations. The rationales for these enhancements are detailed in this report.

It should be noted that the ECETOC TRA is also the basis for the worker and consumer exposure estimates used within the European Chemicals Agency´s (ECHA) CHESAR (Chemical Safety Assessment and Reporting tool). In 2010, ECHA also announced its intention to significantly upgrade CHESAR. ECETOC has therefore worked concurrently with ECHA to ensure that the TRAv3 also incorporates ECHA´s experiences resulting from the Phase 1 REACH registrations, as well as ensure full alignment between the TRAv3 and CHESAR v2 (planned for release in summer 2012).