News
A follow-up project on dossiers for harmonized classification and labelling has been granted to FoBiG by DG Environment. The project is carried out within a framework contract between a consortium led by RPA, Ltd., UK, and the European Commission. In the new project FoBiG will prepare draft CLH dossiers with proposals for harmonized classification and labelling for three additional substances. These CLH dossiers will be submitted to ECHA by Member State Competent Authorities.
For further information please contact Klaus Schneider.
In the current edition (6/2017) of the DGUV Forum, the trade journal for prevention, rehabilitation and compensation, the article – Epoxy resins on "EIS" – was published (available only in German). Among other things, the results of the research project FP-0384, carried out and concluded by FoBiG and the IVDK, are summarized, as well as the continuation of the prevention work within the Epoxy Resin Information System (EIS), supported by the related work group. The work group is composed of representatives of the accident insurance institutions from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as representatives from various professional associations, industry and science. At the end of September, the second meeting of the working group will take place. A software application for the easier comparison of the risk potential of two epoxy resin mixtures will be presented and further possibilities for improvement will be examined and discussed.
On behalf of the German ‘Umweltbundesamt’ (UBA-FKZ 3716622053), FoBiG carries out the toxicological assessment of C4-C8 alkanes as basis for the derivation of indoor air guide values (RW-II and RW-I). FoBiG has already gained extensive experience with the individual substances and mixtures to be evaluated by updating the RCP method (RCP = reciprocal calculation procedure) for the evaluation of hydrocarbon mixtures at the workplace in 2014. The evaluation of the C4-C8 alkanes is necessary, as they have recently been increasingly detected in indoor air, according to the German Committee on Indoor Guide Values (AIR). Various representatives of the group of substances are used, for example, as solvents in paints, resins and spot removers indoors. Lamp oils and emissions from fireplaces might also be emission sources.
If you have any questions, please contact Fritz Kalberlah.
Rubber crumb manufactured from end-of-life tyres (ELT) is used as in-fill material for sports fields. Recently, the European Chemicals Agency, ECHA, evaluated potential risks from using synthetic turfs, filled with rubber crumb from recycled tyres, for sports activities. The authority concluded that these sports fields can be safely used, but also identified some data gaps. On initiative of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturer‘s Association (ETRMA), together with the Crumb Rubber Industry Platform (CRIP) FoBiG, together with partners Eurofins and Labosport started an “Assessment of exposure and potential risks to human health associated with the use of ELT-derived rubber crumb in artificial turf”. With this research project a major effort is made to fill remaining data gaps and to come to a comprehensive risk assessment of substance potentially available from rubber crumb used as infill material in artificial turfs in Europe.
For further information please contact Klaus Schneider.
FoBiG together with partners Hydrotox and ECT in a research project for the German Federal Environmental Agency evaluated existing methods for assessing persistency as part of an evaluation of PBT/vPvB properties. Results were discussed at an international workshop at the Federal Environmental Agency in Dessau. The research report „Assessment of environmental persistence: regulatory requirements and practical possibilities – available test systems, identification of technical constraints and indication of possible solutions” is available online.
For further information please contact Markus Schwarz.
The ‘REACH Baseline Study’, originally initiated by the European Commission (Directorate General EUROSTAT) investigates the impact of REACH on the risks caused by chemicals as well as the impact on the quality of the underlying data. The study has a strong time trend focus by repeating the assessments every 5 years. From the beginning, FoBiG was involved in the conceptualisation and the original study as well as in the 5 years update. As in the past, FoBiG together with colleagues from INERIS, DHI and under the lead of the Öko-Institut Freiburg has worked on the 10 years update of the study. The work was sponsored by the European Commission (Directorate General Internal Market, Industry, Enterprise and SME) and was now published on the Commission’s website.
For further information please contact Jan Oltmanns.
Our colleague Eva Kaiser will be giving a lecture on the topic of Regulatory Toxicology during the summer semester of 2017. The event is part of the lecture series Toxicology for Chemists and Natural Scientists, organized by the Chair of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg. In addition to explaining the fundamental procedures used in the regulation of chemicals according to current standards, Ms. Kaiser will also present current examples from the day-to-day work of a toxicologist.
If you have any questions or are interested, please contact Eva Kaiser directly.
It is more than 30 years now from the very start of FoBiG and exactly 25 years since its foundation as limited company (GmbH) back in 1992. Good reasons to celebrate. Therefore FoBiG was hosting the “25th Anniversary Workshop - Perspectives in Regulatory Toxicology” on 16 June 2017 in Oberbergen in the Kaiserstuhl area close to Freiburg. With this workshop we gave some insights into FoBiG’s approaches to toxicological risk assessment and discussed recent scientific developments in the area of risk assessment. Workshop presentations are available for download here. And here are some photos with impressions from the workshop. Many thanks to all who celebrated with us!
It is more than 30 years now from the very start of FoBiG and exactly 25 years since its foundation as limited company (GmbH) back in 1992. Good reasons to celebrate. Therefore FoBiG is hosting the “25th Anniversary Workshop - Perspectives in Regulatory Toxicology” on 12 June 2017 in Oberbergen in the Kaiserstuhl area close to Freiburg. With this workshop we give some insights into FoBiG’s approaches to toxicological risk assessment and discuss recent scientific developments in the area of risk assessment. Workshop presentations will soon be available here!
The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), together with the “Regulatory Toxicology” Working Group of the German Society of Toxicology, is organizing a workshop on exposure assessment from October 25 to 27, 2017. The event is intended for scientists with knowledge of exposure assessment and includes introductory lectures, discussions, and practical exercises on exposure assessment and the “tiered approach.” Further information and registration are available here.
For further information, please contact Klaus Schneider.
FoBiG analysed on behalf of Cefic and ECPA the consequences of the different options for classification of endocrine disruptors presented in the roadmap of the European Commission and by industry in a case study with natural substances (caffeine, genistein, sucrose, vitamin D3). The results have been published in the Journal of Toxicology and Health and are now available as online publication.
For further information please contact Ulrike Schuhmacher-Wolz.
This year’s annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Europe (SETAC) takes place in Brussels between the 8th and the 11th May 2017. The FoBiG employee Markus A. Schwarz presents results of a project on evaluation and further development of screening methods for assessment of environmental persistence, including the outcomes of a subsequent 2-(half)-days’ workshop and expert discussion. The project was performed for the German Umweltbundesamt (UBA) together with partners Hydrotox and ECT Ökotoxikologie. Markus A. Schwarz presents most important results within a poster titled „Regulatory assessment of environmental persistence: OECD biodegradability screening tests – need for improvements and possibilities for enhancements” on Montag, 8th of May, Exhibition Hall, No. 146 (Poster session: Persistence & biodegradation assessment). The poster abstract is available here.
For further information please contact Markus Schwarz.