Testing a procedure for the identification of emerging chemical risks in the food chain

FoBiG and partner Fraunhofer ITEM developed and tested a procedure to identify emerging risks in the food chain. The project was carried out under contract for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). EFSA now published the external scientific report, which is freely available online.

The principle approach to identify emerging chemical risks in the food chain is to combine exposure potential and toxic properties in a scoring and ranking procedure. The scope of evaluation is limited to chemicals registered under REACH (≥ 1 000 t/a), covering human exposure via the environment.

The procedure evaluates six blocks of individual endpoints, i.e. environmental exposure, biodegradation, bioaccumulation in food, repeated dose toxicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity as well as genotoxicity (carcinogenicity). A novel model (ACC-HUMANsteady) was used to predict bioaccumulation of chemicals in eleven different food and feed items to gain in-depth information on potential sources of emerging chemical risks in the food chain. During the development of the procedure, (Q)SAR predictions were also evaluated for the applicability and are integrated as part of the procedure.

A follow-up project is planned and will apply the new methodology to all chemicals registered under REACH in order to identify potential emerging risks in the food chain.

Do you have further interest or questions? Please, do not hesitate to contact Jan Oltmanns.