PARC Projects

Provide protection against most harmful chemicals
Shift away from animal testing
New tools to assess fish thyroid disruption
Environment
Health effects
NGRA
Time span
-
Partners involved
UKHSA (GB)
SDU (DK)
MU (CZ)
RIVM (NL)
UG-PL (PL)
IRFMN (IT)
VUA (NL)
Contacts
Dries Knapen (UAntwerpen)
Dries.knapen [at] uantwerpen.be
Miriam Jacobs (KHSA)
Miriam.Jacobs [at] ukhsa.gov.uk
Overview

This project develops and tests an Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP ↗) network approach to identify thyroid hormone system disrupting chemicals (THSDCs) in fish. It fills critical gaps in current tools by integrating in silico, in vitro, and in vivo fish test data within a tiered testing strategy aligned with ECHA-EFSA guidance on endocrine disruptors (EDs) ↗. The approach aims to increase the use of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs ↗), supporting regulatory identification and control of THSDCs while reducing animal testing.

Collaborating with ECHA, EFSA, and other stakeholders, the project will execute specific case studies on chemicals relevant to legislation such as REACH ↗, CLP, the Plant Protection Products Regulation (PPPR) ↗, and the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) ↗. It will generate new data and reuse existing information to evaluate the thyroid hormone disruption (T) modality.

The project runs alongside ongoing validation efforts by OECD and PEPPER, independently in terms of timing. It will provide timely feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of emerging methods and identify gaps requiring new tools. This accelerates the adoption of innovative NAMs into regulatory frameworks.

By proposing integrated testing strategies combining computational, cellular, and whole-organism data – including fish at protected and non-protected life stages – the project supports more accurate, ethical, and efficient assessment of endocrine disruption risks in aquatic species.

Related Projects

Developing toxicity roadmaps
Improving testing methods for thyroid hormone disrupting chemicals
Harmonised workflow for human relevance assessment of Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs)
Filter by
Address chemical pollution in the natural environment
Provide protection against most harmful chemicals
Shift away from animal testing
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Enhancing data integration and risk assessment for chemical exposure
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Innovative tools for an early warning system
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Understanding volatile siloxanes in Europe to support regulation
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Advancing tools, knowledge and regulatory options for an improved risk assessment and management of chemical mixtures
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Enhancing the reusability of human biomonitoring data for improved health risk assessment
Establishment of advanced data processing methodologies and bioinformatic tools for a non-targeted screening repository
Harmonising quality of chemical and bio-effect directed suspect and non-target screening methods across fields
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Toxicity of plastic-associated chemicals
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Tracking human exposure to environmental pollutants over time in Europe
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Assessing the relevance of adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) and associated new approach methodologies (NAMs) for human health risk assessment
Demonstrating the applicability of New Approach Methodologies for regulatory use
Harmonisation of the risk assessment of chemicals
Improving regulatory readiness of new testing methods
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In vitro methods to assess respiratory uptake and toxicity
New tools for enforcing chemical safety in everyday items
New tools to assess fish thyroid disruption
Omics for chemical grouping and read-across
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Skin sensitisation and mixtures effects
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Understanding how chemicals can disrupt hormones and reproductive health
Advanced tools to identify metabolism-disrupting chemicals
Advancing endocrine disruptor assessment
Assessing unknown mixtures using monitoring data and new approach methods
Better tools to spot hidden cancer risks
Computational new approach methods based on machine learning and artificial intelligence
Developing toxicity roadmaps
Enhancing chemical mixture risk assessment and regulation
Enhancing the risk assessment of chemical mixtures
Harmonised workflow for human relevance assessment of Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs)
Improving testing methods for thyroid hormone disrupting chemicals
Innovative approaches to assess developmental and adult neurotoxicity 
Innovative testing of chemical effects on the immune system
READYAI: Setting clear rules to assess when Artificial Intelligence can be trusted and used for evaluating chemical safety
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Trusting new ways to test chemicals – the importance of retrospective validation
Advancing chemical risk assessment for diverse populations
Alternative predictive toxicology integrative approaches for chemical safety
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New approaches to assess organ toxicity without animal testing
New directions in systems toxicology for chemical safety
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Benchmarking the environmental risk assessment of plant protection products
Improving chemical risk assessment with new approach methods
Improving environmental risk assessments for plant protection products
Testing less complex pesticide risk assessment models for environmental regulation
Understanding risks from BPA alternatives on the environment
Environment
Health effects
Human health
Monitoring methods
Risk assessment
NGRA
Mixtures
Human biomonitoring
Workers
Streamlining data processing methods for suspect and non-target screening
Streamlining data processing methods for suspect and non-target screening

New tools to assess fish thyroid disruption

Time span
-
UKHSA (GB)
SDU (DK)
MU (CZ)
RIVM (NL)
UG-PL (PL)
IRFMN (IT)
VUA (NL)
Overview

This project develops and tests an Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP ↗) network approach to identify thyroid hormone system disrupting chemicals (THSDCs) in fish. It fills critical gaps in current tools by integrating in silico, in vitro, and in vivo fish test data within a tiered testing strategy aligned with ECHA-EFSA guidance on endocrine disruptors (EDs) ↗. The approach aims to increase the use of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs ↗), supporting regulatory identification and control of THSDCs while reducing animal testing.

Collaborating with ECHA, EFSA, and other stakeholders, the project will execute specific case studies on chemicals relevant to legislation such as REACH ↗, CLP, the Plant Protection Products Regulation (PPPR) ↗, and the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) ↗. It will generate new data and reuse existing information to evaluate the thyroid hormone disruption (T) modality.

The project runs alongside ongoing validation efforts by OECD and PEPPER, independently in terms of timing. It will provide timely feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of emerging methods and identify gaps requiring new tools. This accelerates the adoption of innovative NAMs into regulatory frameworks.

By proposing integrated testing strategies combining computational, cellular, and whole-organism data – including fish at protected and non-protected life stages – the project supports more accurate, ethical, and efficient assessment of endocrine disruption risks in aquatic species.

Contacts
Dries Knapen (UAntwerpen)
Dries.knapen [at] uantwerpen.be
Miriam Jacobs (KHSA)
Miriam.Jacobs [at] ukhsa.gov.uk
Topics
Provide protection against most harmful chemicals
Shift away from animal testing
Keywords
Environment
Health effects
NGRA

Related Projects

Developing toxicity roadmaps
Improving testing methods for thyroid hormone disrupting chemicals
Harmonised workflow for human relevance assessment of Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs)