About 180 registrants, downstream users, consultants, authorities and researchers met at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) in Dortmund on 25 and 26 March 2014 to discuss the outcome of the ETEAM project. The project was aimed at the evaluation of generic tier 1 models used under REACH.

Generic exposure tools are widely used for chemical safety assessments under REACH. Several 1st tier exposure models such as ECETOC TRA, MEASE, EMKG-EXPO-TOOL, STOFFENMANAGER and RISKOFDERM are recommended by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) for estimating occupational exposure. However, none of these models have been extensively validated during their development. BAuA has therefore initiated and sponsored a comprehensive Evaluation of the Tier 1 Exposure Assessment Models by the ETEAM project. The project was carried out by the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) in Edinburgh and the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology (ITEM) in Hannover. The ETEAM project was intended to compare and contrast the different REACH Tier 1 exposure assessment models in terms of their validity, scope of application, functionality and user-friendliness.

The ETEAM conference gave an overview of the study results and provided indications for model users, industry and regulators on the range of validity and applicability of models across different exposure situations. A poster exhibition also provided the opportunity to find out about a variety of different topics surrounding exposure assessment. Audience discussion as well as a panel discussion offered time and space to explore the results of the external validation exercise and the outcome of the reliability study.

You will find the presentations and the corresponding abstracts and poster abstracts below.

Conference programme (PDF, 461 KB)

Opening session

ECHA experience of Tier 1 human exposure models (PDF, 1 MB)
ECHA experience of Tier 1 human exposure models (Abstract) (PDF, 214 KB)
Andrew Phillips, European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)

Industry views on Tier 1 exposure assessment (PDF, 289 KB)
Industry views on Tier 1 exposure assessment (Abstract) (PDF, 40 KB)
Dook Noij, European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC)

Background and aims of the ETEAM Project (PDF, 1 MB)
Background and aims of the ETEAM Project (Abstract) (PDF, 214 KB)
Dr. Martin Tischer, Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA)

Session I: Scientific background and user-friendliness of the models

Conceptual evaluation of Tier 1 models (PDF, 349 KB)
Conceptual evaluation of Tier 1 models (Abstract) (PDF, 213 KB)
Dr. Katrin Schröder, Fraunhofer-Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine (ITEM)

Uncertainty analysis (PDF, 669 KB)
Uncertainty analysis (Abstract) (PDF, 213 KB)
Dr. Susanne Hesse, Fraunhofer ITEM

ETEAM Project: Between-user reliability exercise (PDF, 1 MB)
ETEAM Project: Between-user reliability exercise (Abstract) (PDF, 217 KB)
Judith Lamb, Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM)

Session II: Comparison of model estimates with measured data

ETEAM Project: Characterisation of dataset (PDF, 595 KB)
Characterisation of dataset (Abstract) (PDF, 218 KB)
Judith Lamb, IOM

ETEAM Project: Results of external validation exercise (PDF, 896 KB)
ETEAM Project: Results of external validation exercise (Abstract) (PDF, 218 KB)
Dr. Martie van Tongeren, IOM

Session III: Results and recommendations

ETEAM Project: Evaluation of the User-friendliness of the tools (PDF, 1 MB)
ETEAM Project: Evaluation of the User-friendliness of the tools (Abstract) (PDF, 217 KB)
Judith Lamb, IOM

Implications from the results and practical recommendations for model developers, users and regulators (PDF, 490 KB)
Implications from the results and practical recommendations for model developers, users and regulators (Abstract) (PDF, 215 KB)
Dr. Martie van Tongeren, IOM

Closing session

Current activities on model development and validation (PDF, 1 MB)
Current activities on model development and validation (Abstract) (PDF, 214 KB)
Prof. Dr. John Cherrie, IOM

Challenges and actions (the way forward) for tier 1 exposure assessment (PDF, 69 KB)
Andreas Ahrens, ECHA

Epilogue (PDF, 566 KB)
Dr. Urs Schlüter, BAuA

Poster Exhibition (abstracts)

Stoffenmanager® Implementation Evolutionary Ladder (PDF, 220 KB)
Koen Verbist (Arbo Unie), Jeroen Terwoert, (TNO Innovation for Life), Henri Heussen (Arbo Unie)

Stoffenmanager® - International Implementation (PDF, 219 KB)
Henri Heussen (Stoffenmanager), Dorothea Koppisch (Institute for Occupational Safety and Health - BAuA), Milja Koponen (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health)

Gefährdungsbeurteilung nach Gefahrstoffregelwerk mit dem GESTIS-Stoffmanager (PDF, 227 KB)
Dorothea Koppisch, Mario Arnone, Stefan Gabriel (Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance - IFA)

External validation of tiered-approach models under REACH (PDF, 218 KB)
Eun Gyung (Emily) Lee, Martin Harper (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health - NIOSH)

MEASE - How to reflect metal-specific aspects in first tier exposure assessments for workers? (PDF, 215 KB)
Daniel Vetter, Rüdiger V. Battersby, Jutta Schade (EBRC Consulting GmbH)

Does foam application reduce aerosol formation? (PDF, 218 KB)
Katharina Schwarz, Annette Bitsch, Stefan Hahn, Kathrin Bissantz, Wolfgang Koch, Dagmar Holthenrich

Validation and reliability of the Advanced REACH Tool (ART) (PDF, 219 KB)
Jody Schinkel, Wouter Fransman (TNO), Patricia McDonnell, Marie Coggins (National University of Ireland Galway), Hans Kromhout (Universität Utrecht), John Cherrie (IOM), Rinke Klein Entink, Erik Tielemans (TNO)

Evaluation of a mechanistic model (SprayExpo) for predicting aerosol exposure during spray application (PDF, 218 KB)
Martin Tischer, Ulrich Poppek (BAuA)

EMKG Expo Tool 2014 - New and improved user friendly version (PDF, 218 KB)
Gudrun Walendzik, Annika Vogel (BAuA)

Universal method for inhalational exposure assessment of foam and droplet spray applications (PDF, 222 KB)
Katharina Schwarz, Wolfgang Koch (Abteilung Aerosoltechnologie, Fraunhofer-Institut für Toxikologie und Experimentelle Medizin - ITEM)

Comparison of outcomes for different users using the same exposure modelling tool; Stoffenmanager 2.0, when used in four different branches of industries (PDF, 216 KB)
Hanna Landberg, Håkan Tinnerberg (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Institute of Laboratory Medicine)

Occupational exposure models: a systematic translation into each other (PDF, 217 KB)
David Vernez, Robin Riedmann

How should the user be addressed in REACH tool development? (PDF, 215 KB)
Chris Money (ExxonMobil), Dook Noij (Dow), Frank Schnoeder (DuPont), Jan Urbanus (Shell), Hsieng-Ye Chang (DuPont)