SSbD Knowledge Sharing Portal

Data & databases

Introduction

The EC SSbD framework relies heavily on data from many sources to assess safety and sustainability impacts of chemicals, materials, processes and products. Thus, the availability of high quality and interoperable data is a critical enabler for the operationalisation of SSbD to underpin transparency and trust in the assessment outcome.  

For instance, the key component of the hazard characterisation within safety assessment of the SSbD framework is human toxicity and ecotoxicity data. Information on marketed chemicals and materials often can be found in scientific literature and in information provided during regulatory processes such as registration, notification, approval or authorisation. However, for assessing recently developed chemicals, such data won't be available and screening, high throughput and new approach methodologies become essential, providing toxicity predictions. Utilising and integrating these diverse datasets into the SSbD methodology can be challenging, particularly when the data are not organised in a FAIRified (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) framework and thus, require careful curation and harmonisation efforts.  

Relevance of FAIR data for SSbD

One of the main challenges currently faced for applying the EC SSbD framework is the need to manually collect and adjust information, data, model inputs and outputs from resources which have their own structures and complexities. This is something that heavily increases the efforts and time resources to conduct a reliable assessment. If the data are provided by FAIR principles from all databases, it would significantly enhance the applicability of the EC SSbD framework. Therefore, machine-actionable data resources compliant with FAIR principles are a cornerstone that support seamless data integration and knowledge generation for SSbD assessments.  

There are five areas related to FAIR that are vital for the success of SSbD: (a) digitalization to drive green innovation; (b) interoperability of existing data sources; (c) navigating SSbD with emerging scientific data (e.g., novel materials, AI-driven insights); (d) transparency and trust via automated data quality and uncertainty assessments; and (e) seamless integration of SSbD tools across workflows.  

The essentiality of FAIR data for SSbD from the viewpoint of PARC is discussed here ↗. 

PARC Chemical Risk Assessment Hub

PARC is developing the Chemical Risk Assessment Hub (CRA Hub), which will be a data platform to facilitate the management of data reused or generated by PARC, in accordance with the FAIR principles and to support the chemical risk assessment process. The PARC CRA Hub will support data publishers, data owners, and chemical risk assessment experts, from both the research and regulatory sectors.  

The PARC CRA Data Hub builds on and enhances the existing chemical risk assessment data resources and standards. It will be fully complementary and interoperable with existing regulatory and FAIR data resources and initiatives and will support the translation of regulatory research into formats suitable for practical use in chemical risk assessment.  

The PARC CRA Hub will provide tools and interfaces to find, visualise and access existing resources for chemical risk assessment, such as data reused or generated by PARC, data providers, laboratory capacities, or best-fit repositories for newly generated data.  It will provide standardised metadata protocols, collaborative platforms, and automated pipelines that reduce manual effort. For instance, PARC’s work on harmonising legacy data with cutting-edge tools demonstrates how FAIR adoption bridges gaps between regulatory, academic, and industrial practices.

The Datahub will be available free of charge to its users. The first version with interactive dashboards of available resources relevant to chemical risk assessment will be accessible via the CRA Hub. 

Databases relevant for SSbD

As part of the PARC Toolbox, lists of databases are available to support the retrieval of data relevant to the safety and sustainability assessment within the EC SSbD framework. These databases cover both safety and sustainability aspects and provide essential resources for assessing chemical risks, environmental impacts, and life cycle considerations. Access the full list of databases at the PARC SSbD Toolbox ↗ (registration required).