Assessment of the risks to human health and to the environment has become a legal requirement for an ever-increasing range of chemicals, products and processes.
Although the methodology used is well established, it is under increasing challenge due to:
• pressures to replace the use of experimental animals in toxicity testing
• the need to use quicker, less expensive, higher throughput tests
• the development of novel systems and methodologies and subsequent creation of new data that will have to be considered
• demands that risk assessments be fully transparent and independent
• recognition that interaction with stakeholders should have a greater emphasis
• a shortage of experienced ’independent’ risk assessors.
To meet these challenges, the EU Scientific Committees have recently started to examine how scientifically valid improvements can be made in:
• applications of new technological developments
• the utility of risk assessments for risk management purposes, including the format for comparing risks and benefits
• transparency of their working procedures.
Prerequisites for further improvements include ready access by risk assessors to all relevant data, avoidance of unnecessary duplication of effort and use of the best available expertise. To this end, effective inter-sector and international cooperation is crucial.
The 2nd International Conference on Risk Assessment represents a very important milestone in the identification of the priorities for enhancing risk assessment procedures and deciding on the actions needed to ensure they are achieved. It will also serve as a platform for the identification and examination of cross-cutting issues in the risk analysis process in order to improve its utility for policy making.
