International Fresenius Conference presents approaches to assess the risk posed by chemical substances

Conference on "Human Health Hazard, Exposure and Risk Assessment" by Akademie Fresenius discussed current modelling tools and research issues from 21 to 22 May 2012 in Cologne (Germany)

Dortmund, Cologne (Germany), 29 May 2012

Apart from workers handling chemicals at their workplace, consumers are exposed to a series of chemical substances through everyday consumer products such as cosmetics, detergents or paint. The risks posed to human health require specific testing methods. Besides the analysis of a potentially hazardous substance, evaluating the way and extent of human exposure is a crucial part of a risk assessment. At the International Fresenius Conference on "Human Health Hazard, Exposure and Risk Assessment" from 21 to 22 May 2012 in Cologne (Germany) experts discussed current methods of risk assessment for chemical substances as well as further needs for research.

At the conference, Matthias Wormuth (Harlan Laboratories, Switzerland) summarized the key requirements under REACH. First of all, available data need to be evaluated comprehensively and intelligent testing strategies need to be developed to generate missing data of a substance’s application, Wormuth said. For the latter, the relevant guidance of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) can be recommended. Depending on the quality requirements and the amount of the existing data on the substance and its application, either a general or a specific exposure scenario can be developed. However, it should be noted that specific scenarios would require much more data and preparation time than general scenarios, Wormuth went on. Although specific scenarios could deliver a more detailed characterization of exposure, they had a big disadvantage: the results are often not transferable to other situations. Wormuth recommended to start with simple exposure scenarios and models and to increase the complexity if needed.

Consumer products: Diversity in products and use conditions makes assessment complicated

Beyond the point of sale of consumer products, options to apply risk management to protect consumers from chemical exposure are limited; unlike skilled workers who receive training and are to follow protocols, Wouter ter Burg (Center for Substances and Integrated Risk Management, SIR, at the National Institute for Health and the Environment, RIVM, Netherlands) explained. Neither the actual use of the products nor the compliance with the instructions for use on product labels can be monitored, ter Burg exemplified. Furthermore, consumers are a very diverse group who use a variety of products, but are inexperienced and unaware of possible risks. The wide variety of products and the associated range of possible exposure conditions make it difficult to assess the exposure and consequently the risk. Because of the lack of useful data with which one could examine single application situations in detail, models could help to assess the consumer exposure, the expert said. RIVM has developed the softwaretool ConsExpo which offers models of different levels of complexity for diverse routes of exposure (inhalation, dermal or oral) to be applied in the context of various exposure scenarios. For example, the user could specify the exposure scenario, associated substance and product data, environmental conditions, and consumer use data in ConsExpo, providing the substance concentrations for single events, dermal exposure or the estimated daily and chronic exposure, ter Burg listed. Fact sheets, which include input data for the major product categories (e.g. cleaning products, disinfectants and pest control products) have been compiled in addition to the software. ConsExpo is now available in its fifth version in beta stage and can be downloaded from the RIVM website, ter Burg concluded.

Grouping of nanomaterials as prerequisite for scientific risk assessments

In terms of their risk to human health, nanomaterials, which are widespread in both the environment and the workplace, are still relatively little explored. Although the number of publications that deal with their potential toxicity has increased, the interpretation of the results remains limited so far, Prof. Dr. Andrea Hartwig (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, KIT) stated. The reason for this was an insufficient characterization of the examined particles. In the frame of the MAK Commission of the German Research Foundation (DFG) a working group had been established to summarize current scientific evidence required for risk assessment of nanomaterials with respect to workplace exposure, Hartwig went on. The principal question to be answered was whether or not unique modes of action and/or target organs as compared to particles in the microscale range existed. Since the goal was assessing the risk and not only identifying a hazard, emphasis was given on available data allowing the establishment of dose-response relationships with respect to exposure and biological effects, i.e. toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic interactions. At present, only few quantitative data from in vivo studies were available what made it even more important to set up test strategies for both in vitro and in vivo testing to identify general criteria for grouping of nanomaterials and subsequent risk assessment, Hartwig underlined. Examples for open questions remained numerously: Amongst other things the uptake and intracellular release of metal ions from metal-based particles need to be closely examined as well as nanotubes and fibres of microscale dimensions need to be compared in order to provide accurate information on the possible risk. Altogether, to achieve relevant information for risk assessment, comprehensive particle characterization as well as dose-response-studies with respect to all relevant endpoints under investigation are highly required, Hartwig emphasized in conclusion.

The complete Fresenius conference documentation including scripts from all the presentations can be purchased at the Akademie Fresenius for 295,00 € (plus VAT) or here.

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International Fresenius Conference presents approaches to assess the risk posed by chemical substances

Conference on "Human Health Hazard, Exposure and Risk Assessment" by Akademie Fresenius discussed current modelling tools and research issues from 21 to 22 May 2012 in Cologne (Germany)

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