Partnership for the Assessment of Risk from Chemicals (PARC)
PARC at a glance: EU programme for chemical safety
The External Link:European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) is a partnership which comprises External Link:over 200 partners from 28 countries and three EU authorities (i. e. External Link:European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), External Link:European Environment Agency (EEA) and External Link:European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)). Half of PARC's funding is provided by the EU through Horizon Europe, the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. The other half is provided by the respective partner countries. Over the next seven years, the partnership aims to consolidate and strengthen the EU’s research and innovation capacity for chemical risk assessment to protect both human health and the environment.
PARC is a flagship of European toxicological consumer and environmental protection and the first large-scale EU programme with a direct regulatory relevancePositive Predictive ValueTo glossary and special significance for future risk assessment in Europe. In PARC, competent authorities from EU Member States and from outside of the EU, other relevant EU regulatory bodies in the field of chemical risk assessment, but also a significant number of leading research institutions as well as other organisations are represented. In addition, PARC has an explicit regulatory focus to adequately address remaining data gaps, uncertainties and open questions regarding human and environmental toxicology as well as exposureExposureTo glossary. With new data, knowledge, methods, networks and competences, current and upcoming challenges in the field of chemical safety are to be highlighted and addressed. The seven-year partnership is coordinated by the External Link:French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES).
BfR participation
Partnership
PARC brings together competent authorities from EU Member States and non-EU countries, other relevant EU regulatory bodies in the area of chemical risk assessment, as well as a significant number of leading research organisations and other organisations.
The seven-year partnership is coordinated by the External Link:French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES).
Objectives
PARC is organised in nine work packages (WPs) working closely together to achieve three specific objectives (SO):
- SO1 – An EU-wide sustainable cross-disciplinary network to identify and agree on research and innovation needs and to support research uptake into regulatory chemical risk assessment.
- SO2 – Joint EU research and innovation activities responding to identified priorities in support of current regulatory risk assessment processes for chemical substances and to emerging challenges.
- SO3 –?Strengthening existing capacities and building new transdisciplinary platforms to support chemical risk assessment.
Work packages
PARC comprises the following nine work packages (WP) and respective main responsibilities:
WP1: Coordination and management
- Overall executive management and support of the partnership
- Scientific steering and implementation of Annual Work Plans (AWP)
- Impact evaluation and monitoring of the performance indicators of the partnership
- Ethics framework
WP2: A common science-policy agenda
- Priority setting
- Knowledge management and uptake into policy
- Sustainability
WP3: Synergies, cooperation and awareness
- Stakeholder forum and international board
- Communication and dissemination
- Networking and synergies
WP4: Monitoring and exposure
- Human biomonitoring (HBM)
- Analytical laboratory network for HBM
- Multisource monitoring
- Innovative methods and tools for monitoring and surveys
WP5: Hazard assessment
- Toxicity testing addressing data gaps of concern
- Innovative methods and tools for toxicity testing and modelling
- Quantitative systems toxicology and development of new AOPs
WP6: Innovation in regulatory risk assessment
- Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment (IATA)
- Integrative exposure and risk assessment
- Review of risk assessment methodologies
- Transposing results to regulatory risk assessment methodologies
WP7: FAIR data
- Data policy (management, harmonisation, interoperability, exchange)
- Data libraries
- Innovation for data analysis and uncertaintyUncertaintyTo glossary
WP8: Concepts and toolboxes
- Safe-by-design
- Early warning system
- Integrative models
WP9: Building infrastructural and human capacities
- Laboratory capacities and networking
- Training and capacity building
- Joint activities – harmonization
- Training
German PARC National Hub
The BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment is mainly involved in WP2 and WP5 of PARC and, together with the UBAshort forGerman Environment Agency, coordinates the German PARC National Hub (PARC-NH).
PARC websites and further links
If you are interested in further information about PARC and related topics, please feel free to visit the following pages:
External Link:Official PARC website (in English): Here you will find all the information and news about the partnership, as well as the opportunity to subscribe to the PARC newsletter and the PARC Science Digest to stay up to date.
External Link:PARCopedia: PARC's knowledge management and social media platform for the professional risk assessment community.
External Link:PARC flyer (in German): Provides information on the European Partnership for Risk Assessment of Chemicals (PARC).
External Link:PARC review article: ‘European Partnership for Risk Assessment of Chemicals (PARC) – an overview of Germany's contribution’ published in the journal ‘UMID: Umwelt und Mensch – Informationsdienst’ (UMID 1/2024, p. 37).
General information on PARC:
Duration: 05/2022 - 04/2029
Funding programme / funding institution: European Union (EU) - Belgium
Grant number: 101057014
Project homepage: External Link:http://www.eu-parc.eu