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Chemicals - The REACH System: What does it mean for Research? Press Event

November 18, 2003

Do you know how many different chemicals your body is exposed to in your every-day life?

On 1st December 2003, European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin will sponsor a workshop on the scientific and technical aspects of the new EU Chemicals Legislation, with its new system for Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH), at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) facility in Ispra (Italy).

This workshop brings together leading experts from all over the world to discuss the scientific basis of REACH and its effects on European Research. Recent developments in the area of chemical exposure assessment, in vitro methods and (Q)SARS, as well as future needs in science connected to the assessment of chemicals will be presented and discussed. The event is organized in the context of the Italian Presidency of the EU, represented by Mr. Guido Possa, Vice-Minister for Research (tbc).

Journalists are invited to join the day-long visit and press briefing in Ispra. Mr Barry Mc Sweeney, Director General of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), and Mr Kees van Leeuwen, Director, Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP), will also be ready to brief journalists on these topics.

New EU chemicals legislation
Knowledge of the effects of many chemical substances on human health is poor, and so is information on the way you might be exposed to them. Exposure to chemicals might be the cause of reproductive problems in animals, and be responsible for increased number of cancer or allergy patients. The aim of the new EU Chemicals Legislation and of its new system for the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH, pro-posed by the European Commission on 29th October 2003), is to reduce risks to human health and the environment through greater identification of chemicals and increased testing. This will be achieved at the same time as maintaining competitiveness and enhancing the innovative capability of the EU chemicals industry. REACH would furthermore give greater responsibility to industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide relevant safety information.


What's on offer?
The press conference on 'REACH - what it means for research' will shed further light on the scientific and technical basis of the REACH system and current EU research chal-lenges. It will compare traditional risk assessment methods against modern, cost-effective techniques, including in-silico methods, i.e. (Q)SARS, read-across techniques, and in-vitro methods, while also highlighting the JRC's key role in supporting the new EU Chemi-cals Legislation. After the press conference, journalists will be invited to an on-site tour to see how this research actually works in practice in three selected laboratories at the JRC's Institute for Health and Consumer Protection:

? the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM), which focuses on the validation of alternative methods to reduce animal experi-mentation in the safety control of chemicals, cosmetics, drugs and biomaterials as well as in the quality control of biological substances.
? the Indoortron facility where a wide variety of experiments are carried out to as-sess human exposure to indoor pollutants and chemicals released from consumer products/goods (textiles, computer devices, cleaning products, automotive components, building materials, etc) &
? the Contact Materials laboratory, in which the migration of chemicals from mate-rials used for the manufacturing of consumer goods (e.g. toys) and for food pack-aging is being studied.

Background
One of the prime objectives of REACH is to tackle the lack of publicly available data on the toxicity of chemicals. This problem is an obstacle to advance of research and innova-tion. Under the new legislative framework, companies will be required to register all sub-stances produced or imported in volumes above 1 ton per year per manufacturer or im-porter. The lack of property data on chemicals raises the need for extensive testing, which, by using traditional risk assessment methods, would lead to an increase in animal testing. Alternative testing strategies therefore need to be used. These comprise refined information on exposure, in-silico methods, and in-vitro methods.

As chemicals represent a key industrial sector, the Italian Presidency of the EU has given priority to discussions on new chemicals legislation in the European Council, and it has included in this debate scientific and technical activities, such as the 1st December semi-nar in Ispra. This Seminar will help improve our knowledge of the various scientific and technical issues underpinning the new chemical legislation. This includes new analytical methods; the development of alternative methods to animal testing; and the development of public information systems to alert citizens about the properties and uses of existing substances.   

What is being done?
The JRC actively promotes the development, validation and implementation of alternative methods. These comprise both in-vitro and in-silico methods, i.e. cell culture based methods, as well as (Q)SARs and other computer-based methods for predicting toxicity and for hazard identification purposes. The JRC regards these methods as essential approaches for meeting the requirements set by the new EU legislative framework for chemicals. The success of REACH, however, depends strongly on the availability of trained scientists to apply these methods. As a reference centre of science and technology for the Union, the JRC has responded to these needs and offers training in risk assessment methods to researchers from all EU member states. For this, the JRC can rely on its large network of collaborating partners in industry and academia in the member states, and on its track re-cord in successfully training experts on risk assessment tools (the European Union System for Evaluation of Substances, EUSES) and the International Uniform Chemical Information Database IUCLID.

European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC)