Innovative tools and methods for toxicity testing within PARC work package 5 on hazard assessment.

New approach methodologies (NAMs) have the potential to become a major component of regulatory risk assessment, however, their actual implementation is challenging. The European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) was designed to address many of the challenges that exist for the development and implementation of NAMs in modern chemical risk assessment. PARC's proximity to national and European regulatory agencies is envisioned to ensure that all the research and innovation projects that are initiated within PARC agree with actual regulatory needs.

Sustainable management of spent fluid catalytic cracking catalyst from a circular economy approach.

For sustainable growth, an economic model must tend toward a circular system, especially in the field of waste management. This work focuses on the valorization of spent fluid catalytic cracking catalyst from oil refineries, which generate 400,000 metric tons of spent catalyst per year worldwide, most of which is sent to landfills. A new alternative to landfilling is proposed for this waste, based on the combination of acid leaching for the recovery of lanthanum, a valuable rare earth, and the reuse of the leached solid residue as a cement substitute.

Use of co-combustion bottom ash to design an acoustic absorbing material for highway noise barriers.

The present study aims to determine and evaluate the applicability of a new product consisting of coal bottom ash mixed with Portland cement in the application of highway noise barriers. In order to effectively recycle the bottom ash, the influence of the grain particle size of bottom ash, the thickness of the panel and the combination of different layers with various particle sizes have been studied, as well as some environmental properties including leachability (EN-12457-4, NEN-7345) and radioactivity tests. Based on the obtained results, the acoustic properties of the final composite material were similar or even better than those found in porous concrete used for the same application.