Consumers are frequently exposed to chemical substances in or released from everyday consumer products like paint, cosmetics, clothing and cleaning products. Chemical substances in these products should not be a concern for human health.
To assess the risk of a chemical in a consumer product, it is crucial to determine the magnitude of exposure to the chemicals in these products. RIVM develops methods to evaluate the safety of chemical substances. In particular, RIVM collects and reviews data and develops models to assess human exposure to chemicals in consumer products.
Information on exposure models for consumer exposure assessment can be found here. Reliable and accessible information on chemical substances in everyday products is published on the website Waarzitwatin.nl: a website in Dutch for consumers developed by RIVM and VeiligheidNL under commission of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.
Main commissioning bodies
The main commissioning bodies for RIVM with respect to consumer products and consumer exposure are the Netherlands Food and Consumer Products Safety Authority (NVWA), the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) as well as the European Commission (EC).