Workshop aims and objectives

The aim of the workshop was to assess the applicability of using chemical activity in the interpretation of effects data within the context of environmental risk assessment, with an emphasis on the following key themes:

• To demonstrate the feasibility of using the chemical activity concept as an environmental risk assessment tool for neutral organic chemicals classified as baseline toxicants, including non polar and polar compounds.
• To determine the extent of chemical and toxicological domain for the use of the chemical activity concept as it is applied to polar and non-polar narcotics and to compounds with modes of action beyond narcosis and baseline toxicity for both acute and chronic ecotoxicological effects.
• To explore alternative methods for classifying the toxicological mode of action for chemicals, including the role of adverse outcome pathways in classification, to explore alternative dose metrics, and to assess the role of chemical activity as a potential complementary approach.
• To address issues of uncertainty and applicability domain with respect to physicochemical properties of organic chemicals, including miscible and ionisable organic chemicals, in applying the chemical activity concept to environmental risk assessment.

This workshop was a recommendation of ECETOC Technical Report no. 120 and follows the work of Cefic LRI project ECO16.