New CEN Workshop "Merlin-Expo" in Brussels on July 2
2 July 2014
Austria
To protect man and the environment the industrial use of chemicals is heavily regulated. Numerous chemical health risk assessments have to be carried out in different scenarios to meet safety requirements. Conventional approaches to exposure assessment show major flaws such as the lack of an integrated approach for the assessment of combined stressors. Measuring actual exposure through sampling can be imprecise because of volatilisation or degradation of substances. These uncertainties result in high safety margins and high costs.
Computer-based models for exposure assessment
Chemical health risk assessment can be improved by large computer-based exposure models. These models predict the fate of chemicals in the environment and in human tissues and are increasingly being used despite some limitations. A weakness is insufficient quality assurance and high complexity. Initially developed in the setting of exploratory research, the standard of these models does not (yet) meet the standard required for broad and repeated use, - for example through public agencies, nongovernmental organisations and SMEs.
Free software
In the course of the EU funded research and innovation programme FP7, a novel software supporting a library of exposure assessment models is being developed for chemical health risk assessment. The software comes with a user-friendly interface and links multi-media models with pharmacokinetic models to predict the impact of chemicals released into the environment. The software also allows to integrate sensitivity and uncertainty analyses and will be available for free. The tool currently is undergoing testing, benchmarking and standardisation to improve reliability.
Invitation to participate in a workshop
CEN supports steps taken to standardize the quality of large chemical exposure models and invites interested stakeholder to the CEN Workshop „Merlin Expo“. The CEN-Workshop "Merlin-Expo" will standardize the documentation of large exposure models. Scope is to improve transparency and accessibility of large exposure models by specifying the requirements for the information to be provided in the documentation along with guidelines on presentation. This will allow the user to better compare existing risk exposure models, and will also support the more rigorous formulation of risk exposure models. The result of the Workshop will be a CEN Workshop Agreement, which can become the basis for a Technical Specification or even a European standard.
The Workshop is open to all interested parties and participation is for free. A broad participation is desired, including representatives of industries producing or using chemicals, from public authorities in the area of protection of health and the environment, from associated research units and from non-governmental organisations active in the area of environment, consumer interests and societal security. The kick-off meeting will take place at the Cen-Cenelec Meeting Centre in Brussels on July 2. After the kick-off meeting, collaboration will take place by electronic means. The workshop will be held in English language. The business plan for the workshop can be viewed and commented under https://www.cen.eu/work/areas/chemical/Pages/WS-MerlinExpo.aspx(opens in new window)
Information and registration
Annette Altenpohl
Austrian Standards
+43 1 213 00 724
a.altenpohl@austrian-standards.at
or
Philippe Ciffroy
Électricité de France
+33 1 30877259
philippe.ciffroy@edf.fr
Computer-based models for exposure assessment
Chemical health risk assessment can be improved by large computer-based exposure models. These models predict the fate of chemicals in the environment and in human tissues and are increasingly being used despite some limitations. A weakness is insufficient quality assurance and high complexity. Initially developed in the setting of exploratory research, the standard of these models does not (yet) meet the standard required for broad and repeated use, - for example through public agencies, nongovernmental organisations and SMEs.
Free software
In the course of the EU funded research and innovation programme FP7, a novel software supporting a library of exposure assessment models is being developed for chemical health risk assessment. The software comes with a user-friendly interface and links multi-media models with pharmacokinetic models to predict the impact of chemicals released into the environment. The software also allows to integrate sensitivity and uncertainty analyses and will be available for free. The tool currently is undergoing testing, benchmarking and standardisation to improve reliability.
Invitation to participate in a workshop
CEN supports steps taken to standardize the quality of large chemical exposure models and invites interested stakeholder to the CEN Workshop „Merlin Expo“. The CEN-Workshop "Merlin-Expo" will standardize the documentation of large exposure models. Scope is to improve transparency and accessibility of large exposure models by specifying the requirements for the information to be provided in the documentation along with guidelines on presentation. This will allow the user to better compare existing risk exposure models, and will also support the more rigorous formulation of risk exposure models. The result of the Workshop will be a CEN Workshop Agreement, which can become the basis for a Technical Specification or even a European standard.
The Workshop is open to all interested parties and participation is for free. A broad participation is desired, including representatives of industries producing or using chemicals, from public authorities in the area of protection of health and the environment, from associated research units and from non-governmental organisations active in the area of environment, consumer interests and societal security. The kick-off meeting will take place at the Cen-Cenelec Meeting Centre in Brussels on July 2. After the kick-off meeting, collaboration will take place by electronic means. The workshop will be held in English language. The business plan for the workshop can be viewed and commented under https://www.cen.eu/work/areas/chemical/Pages/WS-MerlinExpo.aspx(opens in new window)
Information and registration
Annette Altenpohl
Austrian Standards
+43 1 213 00 724
a.altenpohl@austrian-standards.at
or
Philippe Ciffroy
Électricité de France
+33 1 30877259
philippe.ciffroy@edf.fr