4 research outputs found
The European Chemicals Bureau: an Overview of 15 Years Experience in EU Chemicals Legislation
From its creation in 1993, the European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) has played a vital role in the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of European Union (EU) legislation on chemicals and in contributing to the European Commission¿s participation in international chemicals programmes.
The ECB has housed much of the European Commission¿s experience, capacity and historical memory in chemical risk assessment and safe chemical management. The contribution of ECB to the drafting, development and implementation of the REACH regulation has been an important one. The provision of scientific/technical expertise to the start-up phase of the newly born European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has been essential for a swift and effective implementation of REACH. The ECB has contributed to that effort not only by selecting, recruiting and training ECHA staff but also by seconding part of its own key staff to the agency. And finally, during 2008 the ECB is completing the hand-over files and transmitting them to the ECHA, which is taking over responsibility for the operational implementation of EU legislation on chemicals.JRC.I-Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (Ispra
The Biocides Directive: Progress with the First Priority List
The first list of active biocidal substances is currently being evaluated and the progress is described in the following. In 2005 the third review regulation was adopted, and thus rapporteur member states are allocated for all existing active substances. The first list of substances was evaluated by the rapporteur member states and a first substance Annex I inclusion has taken place at technical level. The issues for discussion identified through the evaluation are described.JRC.I.3-Toxicology and chemical substance
European Experience in Chemicals Management: Integrating Science into Policy
The European Union (EU) adopted the first legislation on
chemicals management in 1967 with the Dangerous Substances
Directive (DSD). Over time the underlying concepts evolved:
from hazard identification over risk assessment to safety
assessment. In 1981 a premarketing notification scheme was
introduced. Approximately 10 years later a risk assessment
programstarted for existing substances followingadata collection
and prioritization exercise. Integration of science into EU
chemicals legislation occurred via several technical committees
managed by the European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) and
resulted in the TechnicalGuidanceDocumentonRiskAssessment
(TGD), which harmonized the risk assessment methodology.
The TGD was revised several times to adapt to scientific
developments. The revision process, and the risk assessments
for new and existing substances, led to scientific research
on chemical risk assessment and thus increased in complexity.
The new EU chemicals policy REACH (Registration, Evaluation,
Authorization and Restriction of CHemicals) builds on previous
experiences and aims to further enhance health and safety.
REACH places the burden of proof for chemical safety on
industry focusing on managing risks. REACH formalizes the
precautionary principle. Furthermore, it underlines a continued
scientific underpinning in its implementation, also via
stakeholder involvement, and a focus on aligning with
international fora.JRC.DG.I.5-Nanobioscience
Disruption prediction with artificial intelligence techniques in tokamak plasmas
In nuclear fusion reactors, plasmas are heated to very high temperatures of more than 100 million kelvin and, in so-called tokamaks, they are confined by magnetic fields in the shape of a torus. Light nuclei, such as deuterium and tritium, undergo a fusion reaction that releases energy, making fusion a promising option for a sustainable and clean energy source. Tokamak plasmas, however, are prone to disruptions as a result of a sudden collapse of the system terminating the fusion reactions. As disruptions lead to an abrupt loss of confinement, they can cause irreversible damage to present-day fusion devices and are expected to have a more devastating effect in future devices. Disruptions expected in the next-generation tokamak, ITER, for example, could cause electromagnetic forces larger than the weight of an Airbus A380. Furthermore, the thermal loads in such an event could exceed the melting threshold of the most resistant state-of-the-art materials by more than an order of magnitude. To prevent disruptions or at least mitigate their detrimental effects, empirical models obtained with artificial intelligence methods, of which an overview is given here, are commonly employed to predict their occurrence—and ideally give enough time to introduce counteracting measures