The first in-person stakeholder forum meeting of the Partnership for the Assessment of the Risks from Chemicals (PARC) was held in Athens on 28 June 2023. The main achievements were presented and the priorities and needs of the stakeholders were discussed.
PARC aims to develop next-generation chemical risk assessment to protect human health and the environment. It supports the European Union’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and the European Green Deal’s “Zero pollution” ambition with new data, knowledge, methods and tools, expertise and networks.
The 7-year partnership under Horizon Europe has a total funding volume of €400 million for the next seven years, 50% funded by the European Union and 50% by Member States.
A key objective of PARC is to promote European cooperation, advance research, increase knowledge of chemical risk assessment and train relevant methodological skills. The results will help launch European and national strategies to reduce risks posed by hazardous chemicals to health and the environment. Further on they will help to reduce animal testing and implement strategies for next-generation risk assessment.
As multinational European project, PARC involves close to 200 institutions working in the areas of the environment or public health from 28 countries and three EU authorities, including the European Chemical Agency (ECHA), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Environment Agency (EEA). The partnership is coordinated by ANSES, the French Agency for Food Safety, Environmental Protection and Occupational Health. It is bringing into play public partners across the continent, including European and national risk assessment agencies, universities and public research organisations. Five Directorates-General of the European Commission (DG-RTD, DG-GROW, DG-ENV, DG-SANTE and JRC) and the relevant ministries of the countries involved are contributing to the governance of PARC and will monitor its activities.
The European Network for Environmental Medicine is one of the 15 stakeholders of the project and follows in particular the latest human biomonitoring studies and the selection of tested chemicals and effect biomarkers, with the aim of informing physicians and patients about the latest findings on chemical hazards. Furthermore, the participation in the project allows the network to bring the experiences and suggestions of its partners to the attention of the scientific community.
If you are interested in becoming a partner of the European Network for Environmental Medicine, please contact florian.schulze[at]envmed.org.
Here you can learn more about the PARC – Stakeholder Forum:
https://www.eu-parc.eu/about-us/governance#governance-advising-bodies
Group photo of the second meeting of the Stakeholder Forum in Athens (the first meeting took place online):
