Overview
ICCA LRI Research Portfolio
Since 1999, the International Council of Chemical Associations’ (ICCA) Long-Range Research Initiative (LRI) has supported high quality scientific research to address the demands of decision makers and the public to better understand the potential impact of chemicals on human health and the environment. The ICCA-LRI is a global program implemented through three regional member organizations – the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), the American Chemistry Council (ACC), and the Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA). These three regional LRI research programs support complementary areas of research that target the science-policy interface to improve chemical safety and reduce uncertainty.
The ICCA-LRI has identified the following priority research areas:
Innovating Chemical Testing
LRI research develops tools and approaches that can reduce chemical testing costs, time, and animal use as well as facilitate meeting regulatory data requirements. These tools also have the potential to expedite design of new materials, products, and chemical solutions.
Understanding Everyday Exposures to Chemicals
LRI exposure research can provide the critical information link for appropriately assessing the potential health and environmental risks from chemicals; this approach can decrease the likelihood of decisions based on hazard data alone. Predictive models offer potential resources to efficiently and cost-effectively generate estimates for consumer exposures and to address current exposure data gaps for the majority of chemicals in commerce
Translating Research Outcomes for Product Safety
LRI research represents industry’s commitment to advance chemical safety assessment and to increase consumer confidence that new and existing products are safe for their intended use. Increasing consumer confidence can lead to greater acceptance of innovation from the chemical industry.
The three LRI regional programs each support research projects within the priority research areas. These priority areas, which by design are interrelated and interdisciplinary, provide an overall structure for the global LRI program. However, the specific projects funded within these areas can vary from region to region and from year to year depending on industry priorities, financial resources, and other drivers. A clear advantage of this research diversity among the LRI regions is that it adds both depth and texture to the overall LRI research program.
The following matrix table describes specific research topic areas within each of the regional programs that highlight this diversity within the three priority areas.
Understand information at the molecular level to assess health and environmental impacts
Support the 3Rs with a focus on replacement and reducing animal testing
Integrate exposure and dose information to advance interpretation of data from high-throughput assays
Advance application of cell-based testing systems for chemical safety assessments
Develop alternative test methods and prediction models for toxicities based on AOP (Adverse Outcome Pathway)
Advance approaches for evaluating health impacts on potentially vulnerable groups such as infants and children
Evaluate effects of cumulative and aggregate exposures in real life scenarios
Develop predictive exposure models that incorporate environmental stressors
Facilitate data collection and development of predictive fit-for-purpose models for estimating consumer exposures
Improve methods to predict metabolism so this information can inform risk-based decision making
Develop methods for exposure assessment of chemicals via the environment
Evaluate effects of combined exposure to chemicals
Apply new concepts enhancing ecological relevance of risk assessment
Reduce complexity and robustly predict health effects using pragmatic approaches
Advance new approaches to evaluate modes of action to strengthen the scientific basis of risk assessments
Develop an innovative tiered testing and evaluation framework that integrates multiple data streams and facilitates chemical safety assessment for regulatory purposes
Evaluate the safety of chemicals with new properties, such as nanomaterials, for future technological developments
Assess the effects of chemical products on ecosystems and the environment