There is a significant need for increased knowledge about the harmful effects of chemicals used in the workplace in order to assess their toxicity and, where necessary, introduce regulations that ensure workers’ health and safety.
In this project, we use Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) diagrams, which are valuable tools for generating information that can support worker protection. AOPs are flow diagrams that describe how a chemical exposure can initiate a chain of biological events that ultimately lead to an adverse health outcome.
However, most AOP diagrams for chemicals have been developed using animal models such as rats and mice. This reliance may lead to misinterpretations and, in some cases, inaccurate risk assessments in occupational settings.
The project is a continuation of a previous PARC project that aimed to develop a harmonized workflow specifically tailored to humans and designed as guidance for regulatory purposes. This workflow is based on key questions, evaluation steps, and examples illustrating how animal-based AOPs can be translated into human-specific AOPs, thereby improving protection of workers from chemical exposure. The second step will be to validate and standardize this AOP-based workflow for human risk assessment of chemicals through case studies.
By implementing this AOP-based workflow in next-generation regulatory risk assessments, the project will facilitate improved identification and regulation of hazardous substances, benefiting workers’ health both nationally and internationally.
The project will generate knowledge that contributes to strengthening regulatory risk assessment. This is particularly relevant for occupational exposure and for risk assessments within regulatory frameworks such as REACH and OSH.
Project Leader:
Laura Maria Azzurra Camassa
Project Team Members:
Steen Mollerup
Graciela Lopez Soop
External Collaborators:
The project is led by RIVM (the Netherlands) and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), in collaboration with nine international partners across Europe.
Funding Source:
Horizon Europe (EU)
More Information about the Research Programme:
PARC
https://www.eu-parc.eu/
PARC Project Number:
Human Relevance II (P6.1.1.f)
More information is to be found on the Norwegian project page