RISK-HUNT3R: Chemical Safety Testing Without the Use of Animals
Current approaches assessing chemical safety for humans are expensive, time-consuming and error prone. Moreover, there can be ethical concerns such as animal use. Therefore, we need modern and reliable toxicological approaches that use non-animal methods.
In 2016 the EU-ToxRisk project set out to transform toxicology and to move towards mechanistic, animal-free safety assessment that is applicable across industry sectors and acceptable for regulatory purposes. This approach would improve safety for European citizens by providing more robust toxicological predictions. The project developed toxicity testing strategies that integrate state-of-the-art in-silico (computer modelling) and in-vitro (outside of a human being, i.e. test tube or culture dish) technologies.
Project coordinator prof. dr. Bob van de Water (University Leiden): "The integrated testing strategy comprising in silico and in vitro test methods, will provide unprecedented and reliable protection of the human population against chemical-related health effects."
Impact
EU-ToxRisk, which ended in 2022, yielded several results. Among other things, EU-ToxRisk demonstrated how to optimise test strategies to effectively target regulatory questions and how to report on them for safety assessment. Also, the project identified innovative strategies and methods to provide guidance for the universal application of animal-free testing concepts.
EU-ToxRisk’s results paved the way for a follow-up project, again funded by the European Union’s Horizon programme. RISK-HUNT3R will put strategies identified in EU ToxRisk to use, to develop a sustainable alternative to the testing of chemical substances by 2026. The research focuses on substances used in the chemical industry, including pesticides and cosmetics. 37 leading organisations from 9 countries are participating.
Project coordinator Bob van de Water explains how they intend to achieve their goal of non-animal experiments: “There are a great many methods available in the lab. We’re investigating how you can link these lab methods to predict whether a substance is safe for humans. In Leiden, we use cultured mini-kidneys and mini-livers for this, which we study with advanced microscopy.” The project will then validate their methods using existing medicines with known effects on humans.
For more info: https://www.risk-hunt3r.eu/
