From September 8-11, 2024, Copenhagen, Denmark, hosted EuroTox 2024, the 58th Congress of the European Toxicologists and European Societies of Toxicology. With the theme “Toxicology – A Quest for Safe Chemicals and Medicines“, the event brought together experts from around the world to discuss the latest advancements in toxicology, chemical safety, and emerging risk assessment methodologies.
As the largest European conference dedicated to Toxicology and Risk Assessment, EuroTox 2024 attracted approximately 4.000 international participants from the research and scientific communities. SSbD4CheM seized this valuable opportunity to raise awareness about its project and engage with key stakeholders.
Representing SSbD4CheM, Barry Hardy and Pascal Ankli from Edelweiss Connect (EwC) presented a poster titled “Industrial Case Studies in Product Design and Chemical Risk Assessment.” Their work highlighted SSbD (Safe and Sustainable by Design) approaches developed within SSbD4CheM, emphasizing how these methodologies contribute to safer chemical innovations and more effective risk assessment frameworks. They reported about their work incorporating NAMs-based risk assessment into SSbD. Additionally, they commented on how some resources initially developed in the RISK-HUNT3R project (e.g., ASPA based workflow for risk assessment) is now being extended to SSbD in the SSbD4CHeM project.
The congress featured discussions on the safety of pharmaceuticals and environmental chemicals, new and emerging technologies, personalized medicine, and the impact of climate change on chemical safety. The interdisciplinary nature of EuroTox 2024 provided an ideal platform for SSbD4CheM to foster collaboration with experts in toxicology, regulatory science, and the medical industries.
By participating in EuroTox 2024, SSbD4CheM strengthened its network within the global toxicology community, reinforcing its commitment to advancing safe and sustainable chemical practices.
Stay tuned for more updates on SSbD4CheM’s contributions to shaping the future of chemical safety and sustainability!
RISK-HUNT3R aims to develop tools supporting the solution of industrial problems in next generation risk assessment (NGRA) based on New Approach Methods (NAMs). The project involves research activities developing and refining integrated approaches to testing and assessment based on an integration of experimental and in silico modelling methods. Solutions to problem formulations are pursued using an iterative approach to assessment formulated within an ASPA [1] risk assessment workflow. RISK-HUNT3R has a dedicated work package aimed at the sustainable transfer of NAMs to situations involving industrial and regulatory applications. The competency and tools required to execute solutions are organised within the SaferWorldbyDesign innovation platform [2]. We established a process for formulating, engaging and executing industrial case studies based on NAMs-based NGRA organised as an ASPA workflow. We describe here results for initial case study work [3] including:
- In Silico first-based risk assessment of individual compounds as cosmetic ingredients;
- Hazard evaluation of pesticide compounds across multiple in vitro assays;
- Toxicogenomics- and Metabolomics-based assessment of points of departure for specific mechanism-based concerns;
- Prediction and evaluation of drug side effects based on iterative workflows combining machine learning, artificial intelligence, knowledge mining, structure-based modelling, bioinformatics, and dose- and time- dependent RNASeq and High Content Screening experiments.
