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. For our Environment
Experiences with eChemPortal
from the Perspective of
UBA/Germany
Dr. Gerlinde Knetsch
German Environment Agency, Woerlitzer Platz 1, D-06844 Dessau-Rosslau, Germany
The Global Portal to Information on
Chemical Substances
Webinar 16th September 2020

2. UBA’s motto, For our environment (“Für Mensch und Umwelt”)
UBA advises and supports the
German Government, esp. the
Federal Ministry for the
Environment, Nature Conservation,
and Nuclear Safety (BMU)
Short Introducing | German Environment Agency
16.09.2020 2
Scientific and International Issues Data Collecting
Implementing Statutory Provisions
Germany’s central environmental authority
Educating the Public
/ Green Talks : LIVE | OECD eChemPortal

3. Tasks of the
Experiences with eChemPortal UBA /Germany
16 September 2020 / Green Talks : LIVE | OECD eChemPortal 3
Devision IV Chemical Safety
… assesses the environmental risk entailed by chemicals;
… involved in authorizing biocides, drugs and pesticides according to the Biocide
part of the Chemikaliengesetz (Chemicals Act), the Pflanzenschutzgesetz (Plant
Protection Products Act), the Arzneimittelgesetz (Pharmaceutical Drug Act) and
the Infektionsschutzgesetz (Protection against Infection Act).
… Its approval regarding environmental risk assessment and risk reduction
measures is necessary for authorization of chemical products.
ETOXInfo
Ecotoxicology and Environmental
Quality Targets

4. GLOBAL SCALE:
THE STRATEGIC APPROACH TO INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS MANAGEMENT (SAICM) IS A POLICY FRAMEWORK TO
FOSTER THE SOUND MANAGEMENT OF CHEMICALS
✓ one of the five saicm objectives as outlined in the overarching policy strategy is “knowledge
and information”
✓ UBA is one stakeholder …. being done to prioritize the subset of chemicals that pose the
greatest potential risks so that appropriate actions can be taken…. but there are gaps in the
data and information
✓ UBA suggested to use the information of eChemPortal for EHS (environmental, health,
safety) management system on chemicals in commerce
✓ Study (2018): Recommended to inform relevant projects or programs, such as the
chemicals in products programme and the global chemicals outlook II
4
Examples for the use of
G. Knetsch, UBA Germany16 September 2020
Experiences with eChemPortal UBA /Germany
/ Green Talks : LIVE | OECD eChemPortal

5. 5
Examples for the use of
G. Knetsch, UBA Germany/ Green Talks : LIVE | OECD eChemPortal
Experiences with eChemPortal UBA /Germany
GOOD NEWS:
… in April 2020 a Knowledge Management Platform was launched → see here:
HTTPS://WWW.CHEMICALSWITHOUTCONCERN.ORG/
… stakeholders are called upon to provide data and information of the past three years on
this knowledge platform
… UBA as one stakeholder in this chemicals program will inform saicm to reference the
eChemPortal on this Knowledge Management Platform
… contributions to saicm.chemicals@un.org
MORE INFORMATION SEE HERE:
HTTP://SAICM.ORG/IMPLEMENTATION/EMERGINGPOLICYISSUES/TABID/5524/LANGUAGE/EN-US/DEFAULT.ASPX
HTTP://WWW.SAICM.ORG/

6. 6
Examples for the use of
G. Knetsch, UBA Germany16 September 2020
Experiences with eChemPortal UBA /Germany
/ Green Talks : LIVE | OECD eChemPortal
Scientific/assessment reports /paper for special chemicals e.g. Microplastics
Our Goal: Protecting the sources of our drinking water
The criterions for identifying Persistent, Mobile, and Toxic (PMT) substances and very
Persistent, and very Mobile (vPvM) substances under the EU chemical legislation REACH
Methodology: Look what data are available
To assess mobility, Experimental data was given highest priority in this assessment. The main
sources were Arp et al. (Arp et al., 2017) and the eChemPortal database (accessed November
2017).
It is noted that assessing the lowest log DOW at environmentally relevant pH range of 4-9 requires
both KOW and pKa values; these were also mainly obtained from Arp et al. (Arp et al., 2017) and
the eChemPortal database (accessed November 2017).
Sources for the Koc data are REACH registered values from the eChemPortal database available
from ECHA and OECD (http://www.echemportal.org), accessed February, 2018 as a first priority.
To assess toxicity, the C&L (Classification and Labeling) registry of the ECHA was used …and so on
Quelle: Aramanda / Fotolia.com

7. 8
Examples for the use of
G. Knetsch, UBA Germany16 September 2020
Experiences with eChemPortal UBA /Germany
Matters related to the identification of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT)
chemicals
REACH ANNEX XIII (only bioaccumulation):
1.1.2. Bioaccumulation
A substance fulfils the bioaccumulation criterion (B) when the bioconcentration factor in aquatic
species is higher than 2 000.
1.2.2. Bioaccumulation
A substance fulfils the "very bioaccumulative" criterion (vB) when the bioconcentration factor in
aquatic species is higher than 5 000.
STOCKHOLM CONVENTION, ANNEX D „SCREENING CRITERIA“
INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS AND SCREENING CRITERIA (only bioaccumulation)
(c) Bio-accumulation:
(i) Evidence that the bio-concentration factor or bio-accumulation factor in aquatic species for the
chemical is greater than 5,000 or, in the absence of such data, that the log Kow is greater than 5;
(ii) Evidence that a chemical presents other reasons for concern, such as high bio-accumulation in other
species, high toxicity or ecotoxicity; or
(iii) Monitoring data in biota indicating that the bio-accumulation potential of the chemical is
sufficient to justify its consideration within the scope of this Convention;
/ Green Talks : LIVE | OECD eChemPortal
Quelle:UBA

8. 9
What does it means for the data requirements?
16 September 2020
Experiences with eChemPortal UBA /Germany
G. Knetsch, UBA Germany
European Chemical Agency..
software to record, store,
maintain and exchange data on
intrinsic and hazard properties of
chemical substances. Strong
cooperation between the OECD
and the ECHA
OECD…free public
access to information
on properties of
chemicals inter alia:
ecotoxicity, toxicology,
physico-chemical data …
EU…single access
point for discovering
chemical monitoring
data see here
An Integrated Approach to the Data Management for Chemical Management,
Risk Analysis and Risk Assessment
/ Green Talks : LIVE | OECD eChemPortal

9. 10
OUTLOOK:
/ Green Talks : LIVE | OECD eChemPortal G. Knetsch, UBA Germany
….identify specialised data centres (e.g. IPCHEM, eChemPortal, OECD, NORMAN,
databases at ECHA and EFSA, Global Monitoring Plan Data Warehouse, ELIXIR,
the European Bioinformatics Institute)
….explore their content and accessibility, to identify potential partners to store,
update and exchange different types of data.
…FIND THE DATA GAPS, ALSO FOR EVALUATION COMBINATION EFFECTS FOR HUMAN AND
ENVIRNMENT
Experiences with eChemPortal UBA /Germany
At the end of 2019, the commission announced a project
for monitoring and method development:
„Pilot of an EU early warning system for emerging chemical risks
to the Environment“ Draft proposal here
Capter: 4.3. Capacities and platforms for innovation
4.3.1. FAIR Data 1
16 September 2020
1 make data findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (Wilkinson et al., 2016).
Find the data gaps, also for evaluating combination effects

10. 11
CHALLENGE FOR THE FURTURE
/ Green Talks : LIVE | OECD eChemPortal G. Knetsch, UBA Germany
…. A CROWDSOURCING CHALLENGE
Where one single man might fail, a crowd
of intelligent people can succeed…
Its members bring their knowledge to the
common table, discuss, learn and
ultimately agree.
Thanks Sally and Valerie for their
ambitious work!!!
Bibliothek 2.0 / © vege – fotolia.com
Experiences with eChemPortal UBA /Germany
ambitious work
Expandable and customisable to specific requirements
Data are searchable through the OECD eChemPortal
The whole becomes bigger
than the sum of its parts.

11. EnviroInfo 2015, 07-09 September 2015, Copenhagen, Denmark 12
Many thanks for your
attention
Dr. Gerlinde Knetsch
German Environment Agency
Gerlinde.Knetsch@uba.de
More information:
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/topics/chemicals