PBTK modelling platforms and parameter estimation tools to enable animal-free risk assessment: recommendations from a joint EPAA--EURL ECVAM ADME workshop.

Information on toxicokinetics is critical for animal-free human risk assessment. Human external exposure must be translated into human tissue doses and compared with in vitro actual cell exposure associated to effects (in vitro-in vivo comparison). Data on absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion in humans (ADME) could be generated using in vitro and QSAR tools.

Computational toxicology at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre.

The methods and tools of computational toxicology form an essential and integrating pillar in the new paradigm of predictive toxicology, which seeks to develop more efficient and effective means of assessing chemical toxicity, while also reducing animal testing. The increasingly prominent role of computational toxicology in the implementation of European chemicals' legislation is described, along with initiatives by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre to promote the acceptance and use of computational methods. Outstanding needs and scientific challenges are also outlined.

Thresholds of toxicological concern for endocrine active substances in the aquatic environment.

The threshold of toxicological concern (TTC) concept proposes that an exposure threshold value can be derived for chemicals, below which no significant risk to human health or the environment is expected. This concept goes further than setting acceptable exposure levels for individual chemicals, because it attempts to set a de minimis value for chemicals, including those of unknown toxicity, by taking the chemical's structure or mode of action (MOA) into consideration. This study examines the use of the TTC concern concept for endocrine active substances (EAS) with an estrogenic MOA.

On the use of the partitioning approach to derive Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in sediments: a review of existing data.

A review of experimental data has been performed to study the relationships between the concentration in water, pore water and sediments for different families of organic contaminants. The objective was to determine whether it is possible to set EQS for sediments from EQS defined for surface waters in the Daughter Directive of the European Parliament (COM (2006) 397). The analysis of experimental data showed that even though in some specific cases there is a coupling between water column and sediments, this coupling is rather the exception.