The European Partnership on the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) project was launched in 2022. The overarching aim of this partnership is to enhance our knowledge about chemical substances to better safeguard human health and the environment against harmful effects. The project will run for seven years under Horizon Europe. PARC is subdivided into several work packages (WPs). WP5 is focused on hazard assessment for human and environmental health and includes more than 80 partners across Europe. WP5 aims to fill data gaps for specified chemical substances of concern (e.g, bisphenol alternatives) and to develop or improve new approach methodologies (NAMs) for chemical hazard assessment. This is in order to progress towards a risk assessment paradigm relying less on animal toxicity data, both with respect to human health and environmental safety. As the PARC initiative will evolve over time with respect to both projects and activities, presenting early initiatives will foster an increased awareness of ongoing activities and potential incorporation of new activities going forward.

In recent years many developments have taken place in promote co-operation between governments and other the field of risk assessment of chemicals. Many reports parties involved in chemical safety and to provide policy have been published by national authorities, industries guidance with emphasis on regional and subregional co and scientific researchers as well as by international bod operation. The Inter-Organization Programme for the ies such as the European Union, the Organization of Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC) was estab Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and lished in 1995 and provides a mechanism for the six par the joint International Programme on Chemical Safety ticipating organizations (UNEP, ILO, FAO, UNIDO,WHO (IPCS) of the World Health Organization (WHO), the and OECD) to better co-ordinate policies and activities in International Labour Organization (lLO), and the United the field of chemical risk management. Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The present book is an introduction to risk assessment of The development and international harmonization of risk chemicals. It contains basic background information on assessment methods is an important challenge. In sources, emissions, distribution and fate processes for Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on exposure estimation. It includes dose-effects estimation Environment and Development (UNCED), chapter 19 is for both human health related toxicology and ecotoxicol entirely devoted to the management of chemicals. For ogy as well as information on estimation methodologies. one of its recommendations, i. e.

This volume presents research on current trends in chemical regulations – a fa- growing, complex, and increasingly internationalized field. The book grew out from a multidisciplinary research project entitled ‘Regulating Chemical Risks in the Baltic Sea Area: Science, Politics, and the Media’, led by Michael Gilek at Södertörn University, Sweden. This research project involved scholars and experts from natural as well as social sciences, based at Södertörn University, Swedish Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Karolinska Institutet, and Umeå University. The project group organized a multidisciplinary research conference on chemical risk regulations, held in Stockholm, August 15–17, 2007. Most of the contributions published in this book were, in draft form, first presented at this conference. The conference, like the ensuing edited volume, expanded the geographical focus beyond the Baltic Sea area to include wider European, and to some extent also global trends. Many thanks to all project colleagues and conference participants! We are very grateful for the generous financial support received from The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies (Östersjöstiftelsen), The Swedish Research Council Formas, and from Södertörn University. Without this support the present book would not have been possible. Special thanks to all of our fellow contributors, all of whom have submitted to- cal papers based on high-quality research. Many thanks also to Tobias Evers, who assisted us with technical editing. Finally, we are grateful for the professionalism shown by our editors at Springer.

This book is an essential guide and support to understanding of the science and policy, procedure and practice that underpins the REACH risk assessments required for the use and placing on the market of chemicals in the European Union. A clear understanding of information provision and how this affects the assessment of chemical safety is fundamentally important to the success of policy on chemicals and ultimately to the sustainability of the chemicals industry. Within the book, the scientific processes that underpin the policy are explained in a practical way. Importantly, it includes coverage of techniques to help solve the problems of using potentially risky and hazardous chemicals through the use of less hazardous alternatives and ‘green chemistry’, and also the analysis of the risks of the use of the most hazardous substances against the social and economic benefits of use. Chemical Risk Assessment: A Manual for REACH covers the following main themes: i) Assessment of chemical risk; ii) Risk management; iii) Hazard reduction, substitution and green chemistry; iv) Risk versus benefit – socio-economic analysis. The book acts as a practical guide and overview to chemicals risk assessment and risk management (in the EU context), as well as a support text for planning for the challenges of the future, which will see ever-increasing pressure to withdraw hazardous substances from the EU (and global) market, balanced against opportunities for innovation in the development of less hazardous chemicals.

Much has already been written about risk assessment. Epidemiologists write books on how risk assessment is used to explore the factors that influence the distribution of disease in populations of people. Toxicologists write books on how risk assess ment involves exposing animals to risk agents and concluding from the results what risks people might experience if similarly exposed. Engineers write books on how risk assessment is utilized to estimate the risks of constructing a new facility such as a nuclear power plant. Statisticians write books on how risk assessment may be used to analyze mortality or accident data to determine risks. There are already many books on risk assessment-the trouble is that they all seem to be about different sUbjects! This book takes another approach. It brings together all the methods for assessing risk into a common framework, thus demonstrating how the various methods relate to one another. This produces four important benefits: • First, it provides a comprehensive reference for risk assessment. This one source offers readers concise explanations of the many methods currently available for describing and quantifying diverse types of risks. • Second, it consistently evaluates and compares available risk assessment methods and identifies their specific strengths and limitations. Understand ing the limitations of risk assessment methods is important. The field is still in its infancy, and the problems with available methods are disappoint ingly numerous. At the same time, risk assessment is being used.

This text takes an interdisciplinary, selective look at the effector mechanisms employed in directives which seek to minimize the potential for harm to humans and the environment arising from the use of chemicals.

The tragic incident at Bhopal, India made it clear that safetyreviews for identification and control of accidents involving toxicchemicals must be more systematic. This guide shows how tointegrate hazard identification, risk assessment, consequenceanalysis, and risk mitigation into a formalized program forhandling hazardous chemicals. Most of the 21 contributors aresenior staff members at Stone & Webster EngineeringCorporation. They discuss how to perform and supervise safetystudies for chemical, petrochemical, petroleum refining, and otherfacilities. They discuss all aspects of detection, prevention, andmitigation of risks associated with processing, handling, andproduction of hazardous chemicals. Special attention is given tohazard identification and hazard assessment techniques ranging fromsimple screening checklists to highly structured Hazard andOperability (HAZOP) analysis. You're shown how to calculatepotential consequences of identified hazards, quantify thelikelihood of these events, and combine equipment failure rate dataand human reliability analysis with hazard assessment. You'll alsobenefit from the book's rundowns of how to * apply expert systems and artificial intelligence in riskmanagement * instill safety-oriented operating and maintenanceprocedures * train operators and emergency response personnel * conduct internal and external safety audits * perform chemical dispersion, explosion, and fire analyses * assess health effects from chemical releases * use insurance vehicles to deal with residual risk. Risk Assessment and Risk Management for the Chemical ProcessIndustry is an essential source on minimizing the dangers of toxicincidents and accidents. It is essential reading for safetyengineers, regulatory managers, environmental engineers, and otherprofessionals responsible for safety in chemical plants.

In fact, with the control and containment of most infectious conditions and diseases of the past millennium having been achieved in most developed countries, and with the resultant increase in life expectancies, much more attention seems to have shifted to degenerative health problems. Many of the degenerative health conditions have been linked to thousands of chemicals regularly encountered in human living and occupational/work environments. It is important, therefore, that human health risk assessments are undertaken on a consistent basis - in order to determine the potential impacts of the target chemicals on public health.

Introduction to Chemical Exposure and Risk Assessment focuses on the principles involved in assessing the risks from chemical exposure. These principles include the perception of risk, an understanding of how numbers are handled, and how chemicals affect health. The book briefly describes the major sinks, such as water and air, where chemicals are introduced. This is followed by a discussion on how concentrations are estimated and risk assessments are made. A discussion of risk benefit analysis and a presentation of several case studies using the principles for assessing risks are also included.

Reviews the current status of risk assessment procedures as they relate to the environment.