Issue 2, 2018

Development of a novel scoring system for identifying emerging chemical risks in the food chain

Abstract

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is responsible for risk assessment of all aspects of food safety, including the establishment of procedures aimed at the identification of emerging risks to food safety. Here, a scoring system was developed for identifying chemicals registered under the European REACH Regulation that could be of potential concern in the food chain using the following parameters: (i) environmental release based on maximum aggregated tonnages and environmental release categories; (ii) biodegradation in the environment; (iii) bioaccumulation and in vivo and in vitro toxicity. The screening approach was tested on 100 data-rich chemicals registered under the REACH Regulation at aggregated volumes of at least 1000 tonnes per annum. The results show that substance-specific data generated under the REACH Regulation can be used to identify potential emerging risks in the food chain. After application of the screening procedure, priority chemicals can be identified as potentially emerging risk chemicals through the integration of exposure, environmental fate and toxicity. The default approach is to generate a single total score for each substance using a predefined weighting scenario. However, it is also possible to use a pivot table approach to combine the individual scores in different ways that reflect user-defined priorities, which enables a very flexible, iterative definition of screening criteria. Possible applications of the approaches are discussed using illustrative examples. Either approach can then be followed by in-depth evaluation of priority substances to ensure the identification of substances that present a real emerging chemical risk in the food chain.

Graphical abstract: Development of a novel scoring system for identifying emerging chemical risks in the food chain

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 nov. 2017
Accepted
17 ene. 2018
First published
18 ene. 2018

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2018,20, 340-353

Development of a novel scoring system for identifying emerging chemical risks in the food chain

J. Oltmanns, O. Licht, A. Bitsch, M.-L. Bohlen, S. E. Escher, V. Silano, M. MacLeod, R. Serafimova, G. E. N. Kass and C. Merten, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2018, 20, 340 DOI: 10.1039/C7EM00564D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements