Chemical mixtures pose hazards to human health and the environment. The health effect of a chemical mixture can be different from, and greater than, the sum of the effects of the individual chemicals within the mixture. Exposure to multiple chemicals at low levels can be harmful even if each individual chemical is present at a level that has been classified as “safe.”
Risk assessments generally focus on one chemical at a time. This approach does not reflect the real-life exposures that people experience. In this EDC Strategies Partnership webinar, Dr. Christina Rudén explained why assessing the risk of individual chemicals is not sufficient to protect health.
She explained the need to add a “Mixture Assessment Factor” which adjusts the acceptable exposure level for each individual chemical downwards to provide a protective margin for mixture effects. Over 250 scientists have urged the European Commission to address mixtures to address these risks in the forthcoming revision of the European Union’s Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. These points are relevant for risk assessment and regulation in the US and other countries as well.
The webinar was moderated by Génon Jensen, Executive Director, Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL).
Featured Speaker
Christina Rudén is Professor in Regulatory toxicology and ecotoxicology at the Department of Environmental science, Stockholm University, Sweden. Her research focuses on analyzing and evaluating the foundations and workings of EU chemicals legislation. In particular how science is used for regulatory decision-making. She has served as an expert to the Swedish Government, the European Commission and the European Parliament.
This webinar is hosted by the EDC Strategies Partnership, which is co-chaired by Sharyle Patton (Biomonitoring Resource Center), Jerry Heindel and Sarah Howard (Environmental Health Sciences' Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptor Strategies, HEEDS), Génon Jensen (Health and Environment Alliance, HEAL), and Rachel Massey (Collaborative for Health and Environment, CHE). Any opinions expressed in these webinars are those of the speakers, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations in the EDC Strategies Partnership. To see a full list of past calls and webinars related to EDCs and listen to or view recordings, please visit our partnership page.