PARC

The European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals, PARC, aims to bring together a broad community of research establishments and health agencies to advance research, share knowledge and improve skills in chemical risk assessment. The results of this partnership will be used to support new European and national strategies to reduce exposure to hazardous chemicals and their impact on health and the environment.

One ambition: to move towards a new generation of chemical risk assessment methods

The European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals aims to advance research, share knowledge and improve skills in chemical risk assessment. By doing so, it will help support the European Union's Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, paving the way for the "zero pollution" ambition announced in the European Green Deal.

PARC represents a campaign of unprecedented scale, since it brings together about 200 French and European players, involving national and European health and safety agencies as well as research organisations. The partnership encompasses all aspects of chemical risk assessment, aiming in particular to: better anticipate emerging risks, better account for combined risks, and underpin the concrete implementation of new orientations in European public policies to safeguard health and the environment in response to important issues for health, the ecology and citizens' expectations.

The partnership will build on work undertaken as part of the European Joint Programme on human biomonitoring, https://www.hbm4eu.eu/, which will come to an end in the summer of 2022, and will broaden the scope of its of interests specifically to the assessment of environmental risks.

Main objectives:

·       Develop the scientific skills needed to address current and future challenges in chemical safety

·       Provide new data, methods and innovative tools to those responsible for assessing and managing the risks of chemical exposure

·       Strengthen the networks which bring together actors specialised in the different scientific fields contributing to risk assessment

Main results expected:

·       Establishment of a permanent interdisciplinary network on a European scale to identify and prioritise conceptual, scientific and technical advances and needs in terms of research and innovation

·       Development of joint research and innovation activities reflecting the defined priorities

·       Strengthening of existing capabilities for research and innovation and the creation of new cross-disciplinary platforms in Europe

The TEAM unit will contribute to the workpackages 5 (‘Hazard assessment’), 6 (‘Innovation in regulatory risk assessment’) and 8 (‘Concepts and toolboxes’), and more specifically to the activities 5.1.2b  ‘Innovative methods and tools for toxicity testing and modelling (environment)’, 5.3.4 ‘IVIVE-PBK models for inhalation routes of exposure’, 6.2.2 ‘Modelling exposure through life’, 6.4.2 ‘Facilitate the regulatory acceptance and practical use of new methods’, and 8.3.2 ‘Designing and implementing the PARC model network’.  

• In activity 5.1.2b the TEAM unit plans to develop modelling approaches (i) linking biomarker responses to bisphenol environmental exposure in fish using PBTK-TD modelling and (ii) connecting biomarker responses to the long-term combined effects at the population level.  The models will be developed for bisphenol A and its main substitutes (BPS, BPF and their mixture).

Current project: BPA alternatives and associated mixtures (data gaps and NAM development).

• In activity 5.3.4, the TEAM unit leads the development of combined in vitro and in silico models to predict the absorption of chemicals through inhalation. The toxic effects of an inhaled compound at topical and/or systemic levels depend on many factors, including the compound’s structure, and the size of the particles. Contrary to gastrointestinal tract absorption, absorption by inhalation is poorly accessible. Some in vitro models are available such as the air-liquid interface models, lung organoids, etc. These models could provide information of interest such as the compound permeation and/or local toxicity in real life. After characterizing the test system, we will evaluate whether the in vitro barrier models for lungs (alveolar and bronchial) can accurately predict the absorption, intracellular accumulation, and permeation of chemicals upon a single or multiple exposure(s). We will challenge the approach with compounds for which in vivo data indicate relevance of the route of administration, a low in vitro toxicity, and different metabolic profiles.

• The TEAM unit is the coleader of activity 6.2.2. This activity aims to link external and internal exposure levels (and vice versa) through life by means of PBK models. These models will be refined or developed to address the different sensitivity resulting from the interindividual variability of population sub-groups. By comparing (external and internal) exposure levels through life with acceptable levels (e.g. guidance values), associated risks can be assessed. Meanwhile, risk management measures and regulations are aimed at lowering human exposure to (mixtures of) chemicals. The impact of these measures and regulations on human exposure will be determined.

Current projects:

• Refinement and development of PBPK models for human risk assessment;

• In the real-life mixture project, the TEAM unit leads a working group on PBK models.

• In activity 6.4.2, the TEAM unit will help in conducting and scaping exercise to determine the current status of integration as well as risk assessors’ needs from the use of NAMs (including computer-based approaches) across regulatory frameworks. A gaps and needs analysis will identify common scientific barriers for the use of NAMs. We will initiate the design of regulatory scenario-based case studies with the aim of developing evidence-based methods/approaches for NGRA that work in practice, based on established systematic approaches to ensure high quality, objectivity, transparency, and reproducibility.

• The TEAM unit will help activity 8.3.2 to connect selected models from our implication in the other activities into the PARC model platform/network, by sharing the codes and providing parametrization of the models. We will ensure that the modelling approaches will be accessible and in agreement with FAIR principles.