To meet public health and environmental objectives for the safe use of chemicals under proper conditions, increasing understanding of chemical hazards and risks is key. By increasing access to data and information, governments and industry can work to reduce – or even eliminate – adverse health effects from exposures to chemicals. The OECD eChemPortal provides direct access to critical scientific information on chemical substances of regulatory relevance with over 800,000 substance records from 37 databases. The portal allows countries and companies to share work, ensure resource efficiencies, and, subsequently, reduce animal testing. Gerlinde Knetch (Germany), Jake Sanderson (Canada) and Violaine Verougstraete from Eurometaux shared their experience in improving chemical safety and how the eChemPortal supported this process.

1. eChemPortal
16.09.2020
Violaine Verougstraete, Eurometaux

2. @Eurometaux
Two perspectives
Pg.2
• industry
• academic
Two perspectives…
industry & academic

3. An industry perspective…

4. @Eurometaux
Chemicals management today and tomorrow: some trends
Pg.4
2010
2015
2018
2020
2030
2050
SAICM 2020
UN Sustainable
Development Goals
EU Non-Toxic environment strategy
EU 7th Environmental Action Programme
EU Green Deal

5. @Eurometaux
“Towards a Zero Pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment”
Pg.5
Create a toxic-free environment: more
action required to prevent pollution from
being generated & measure to clean
Better monitor, report, prevent and
remedy pollution from air, water, soil and
consumer products
Natural functions of ground & surface
water must be restored
Revise air quality standards to align more
closely with the WHO recommendations
Review EU measures to address pollution
from large industrial installations
Ensure toxic-free environment with a
chemicals strategy for sustainability
including on emerging issues like
combined effects, EDs etc.
•Chemicals strategy for
sustainability
•Zero Pollution action plan
for water, air and soil
•Revision of measures to
address pollution from large
industrial installations

6. @Eurometaux
Chemicals management today and tomorrow: some realities
• Chemicals management is global (operations
as well as objectives)
- Important to have a good overview and
understanding of what’s ongoing
- Schedules of assessments
- Data sources
- Classification GHS vs. ECHA C&L inventory
• Chemicals management is also about ‘value
chains’ and downstream users

7. With the students

8. @Eurometaux
Easy to use and
possibility to
refine searches
The possibility to select type
of information (e.g.
exposure information) and
see which databases
provide data is really useful
So many
databases
Does it allow to
prevent
overlapping
activities and
reduce animal
testing?
Nice
explanatory
material

9. @Eurometaux
It requires some support
Pg.9
• The idea to confront data from different data sources is tempting but requires to
know what is “behind the data”
- Data source aspects: time to check the disclaimers and accessibility
- Data format differences
- Data reliability?
• Freely accessing several databases may increase the confusion on how to select
the data to use for your assessment/query:
- searches will depend on your expertise and profile
- searches will depend on the toxicity profile of the substance
• But strong encouragement to further work on harmonized data 

10. !!!
&