Testing New Methodologies for Identification of Emerging Chemical Risks in Food

The objective of this study was to develop and test a procedure for the identification of chemicals registered under the REACH Regulation that are of potential health concern and are likely to occur in the food chain. For this purpose, 100 data-rich substances registered under REACH, together with four positive controls, were evaluated. The evaluation of the 104 substances took into account parameters related to exposure (tonnage, release, biodegradation, and potential bioaccumulation) and toxicity (repeated dose toxicity, genotoxicity, and reproductive toxicity) organised in six blocks. All substances were scored for each block. ACC-HUMAN steady software was used to evaluate the potential for bioaccumulation in eleven different food items using input data derived from QSAR predictions. Several weighting scenarios were tested to aggregate scores for the six blocks into a total score, which enabled ranking the 104 substances. In addition, a Pivot table selection was implemented that can be used without weighting. Further analyses compared the scores derived from experimental data with those derived from predicted data. These analyses found a good agreement of scores for biodegradability, but considerable disagreement of scores for toxicity endpoints. In conclusion, a scoring and ranking procedure was developed for the identification of chemicals of potential concern in the food chain (potential emerging risks) that showed a good level of differentiation. The focus on (semi-)automated processes ensures that this procedure can be applied to all chemicals registered under the REACH Regulation.