PARC | RIVM

Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals

The European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals: PARC 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.

The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) coordinates PARC. The partnership involves 200 partners in 28 countries and will run for seven years until 2029.

PARC builds on previous work, in particular the actions undertaken as part of the European Joint Programme HBM4EU and work from different European projects and programmes, such as EuroMix. RIVM was involved in both projects.

Role of RIVM

RIVM plays a central role in PARC as the main grant signatory for the Netherlands. In addition, RIVM acts as co-leader for various work packages and serves as the national hub contact point for the Netherlands. RIVM works in close collaboration with several affiliated Dutch research institutes, including TNO, WFSR, Wageningen Research Biometris, KWR Water B.V., Utrecht University (IRAS), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Leiden University, Wageningen University & Research, and Radboud University.

Work Package 6: Innovation in Regulatory Risk Assessment
Work Package 6 (WP6) is jointly led by RIVM (Netherlands) and KEMI (Sweden) and aims to innovate regulatory risk assessment (RA) methods for human health and the environment. WP6 develops actionable approaches such as Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) and Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment (IATAs) to support regulatory processes, the transition to a circular economy, and policy strategies. Stakeholders are closely involved in developing and testing these methods via case studies, while existing assessment systems are reviewed to identify research priorities and facilitate adoption of new tools. WP6 also advances integrative risk assessment, particularly for mixtures, using human biomonitoring (HBM) data. HBM study owners can use the Monte Carlo Risk Assessment (MCRA) tool for mixture risk assessment (MCRA tool). The associated health impact can be assessed, and sources of exposure are explored with kinetic models to compare internal (HBM) and external exposures (food, inhalation, dermal). WP6 also addresses environmental mixture risks.

Work Package 8: Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD)
Work Package 8 (WP8), co-led by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh, Greece) and University of Naples Federico II (UNINA, Italy), develops concepts and toolboxes for assessing chemicals and materials that are safe and sustainable by design. WP8 provides integrative models, tools, early warning systems to guide safety and sustainability assessments from the earliest stages of substance design. Collaboration with other PARC work packages and external stakeholders ensures the SSbD toolboxes are practical and meet defined criteria. Stakeholders play a key role in testing the applicability and effectiveness of these tools, supporting innovation and transition towards safer and more sustainable chemical use in Europe.

Projects

Harmonised workflow for human relevance assessment of Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) | Parc

Enhancing the risk assessment of chemical mixtures | Parc

In vitro methods to assess respiratory uptake and toxicity | Parc

Funding

PARC has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No 101057014.

www.eu-parc-eu

Publications

Related information

Video making innovation safe by Design

As researcher or innovator, you hope to contribute something of value to the world, like better health, equality, efficiency or other improvements. However, that value is undermined when your work unexpectedly turns out to cause significant harm. And innovations have unintended negative effects more often than you’d think…
Let’s look at a classic example.
Meet Dr Thomas Midgley Junior, one of the 1900s most successful inventors. He accomplished incredible chemical innovations such as a nifty little fuel additive to battle uncontrolled combustion — or 'engine knocking'. Lead. Being inexpensive and highly effective, leaded fuels were quickly sold in just about every country around the world.
By the 1960s, the world fully realized how toxic lead-based exhaust fumes are to humans and the environment. This eventually led to more and more countries banning leaded fuels. When it was finally phased out entirely in 2021, it had incurred enormous health costs and will continue to do so for decades.
Dr Midgley Junior also developed a substitution for the dangerous, toxic coolants used in refrigerators. A gas called Freon made the refrigerators safer to build and use. These Freon-fridges became a worldwide success. About sixty years later, the world came to understand how Freon causes severe damage to the ozone layer. Although their use is banned, they still cause issues to human and environmental health to this day.
Dr Midgley Junior's solutions initially seemed very beneficial but ended up causing enormous harm to people and the environment globally. Now, Dr Midgley Junior practiced his science in a time with hardly any attention towards long-term safety and prevention. Although we now know a lot more, we may still think of safety too little and too late.
Substances like forever chemicals, microplastics and pesticides are just the latest examples of useful things turning up in unexpected environments linked to an ecological decline or health concerns.
When there is no better alternative, we knowingly use hazardous materials with unique properties for much needed technological advances, but without sufficiently considering how to deal with these components once products reach their end of life.
And with the high-paced development of emerging technologies such as nanotechnology and biotechnology, additional complexity and more powerful capabilities make it even more urgent to understand negative impacts and address safety early on.
Because truth be told, as modern inventors in every branch of science seek out the next breakthrough technology, there was, and still is, insufficient attention to safety in the earliest phases of research and development. And it is at these early stages that a substantial part of an innovation's eventual impact is determined, positive and negative.
That is why, to achieve a safe, healthy and sustainable living environment, it is crucial to be considerate of the potential safety concerns from the very start of the innovation process.
To do so, innovators and researchers have to imagine what challenges must be overcome to consider safety from the earliest stages of innovation. And address problems even before they arise.
What challenges do YOU see in overcoming these early stage problems. Can you imagine what it takes to truly apply Safe-by-Design in your work? Have a think about this, or take a look at our other educational materials on Safe-by-Design!

Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals

Role of RIVM

Funding

Share this page