The role of the European Chemicals Bureau in promoting the regulatory use of (Q)SAR methods

Under the proposed REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of CHemicals) legislation, (Q)SAR models and grouping methods (chemical categories and read across approaches) are expected to play a significant role in prioritising industrial chemicals for further assessment, and for filling information gaps for the purposes of classification and labelling, risk assessment and the assessment of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals. The European Chemicals Bureau (ECB), which is part of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), has a well-established role in providing independent scientific and technical advice to European policy makers. The ECB also promotes consensus and capacity building on scientific and technical matters among stakeholders in the Member State authorities and industry. To promote the availability and use of (Q)SARs and related estimation methods, the ECB is carrying out a range of activities, including applied research in computational toxicology, the assessment of (Q)SAR models and methods, the development of technical guidance documents and computational tools, and the organisation of training courses. This article provides an overview of ECB activities on computational toxicology, which are intended to promote the development, validation, acceptance and use of (Q)SARs and related estimation methods, both at the European and international levels.