Background
Current environmental monitoring and toxicity evaluation approaches are thought to only cover a fraction of the chemicals present in the environment. This limitation creates uncertainty surrounding the identity and concentrations of the unmeasured substances in the environment, raising concerns that environmental risks may be underestimated due to the presence of unknown or unmonitored chemicals that are currently not explicitly accounted for in risk assessments.
Available monitoring evidence suggests that environmental risks in surface waters are largely driven by a relatively small number of chemicals (toxicity drivers) which are often already covered by existing monitoring and regulatory frameworks. Consequently, while unmeasured chemicals may contribute to overall environmental risk, the magnitude of this contribution remains poorly understood.
A key challenge is to determine whether incorporating unmeasured chemical into risk assessment frameworks could significantly improve environmental protection and risk management decisions, particularly in the context of mixtures assessment, or whether current approaches already capture the dominant drivers of environmental risk.
Objectives
The project will provide an analysis to help highlight current approaches and best practices that could be used to identify unmeasured chemicals and discern their risk to the environment. Main objectives are:
- Improve understanding of unmeasured chemicals (e.g., compositions, concentrations, mechanistic effects) and investigate ways to define the unknown chemical fraction.
- Evaluate how unmeasured chemicals should be assessed and potentially included in risk assessment frameworks.
- Investigate the likelihood and influence that unmeasured chemicals contribute to mixture-driven risks (including mixture toxicity).
Scope
The purpose of the project is to improve our understanding of unmeasured chemicals in surface waters and to determine when and where these chemicals may, or may not, pose risks to the aquatic environment. The analysis is expected to be qualitative, yet quantitative approaches/methods would be seen beneficially.
Out of scope
Assessment of mixture toxicity should not be the primary focus of the project; rather the researchers are asked to focus on unmeasured chemicals and how they may contribute to mixture toxicity and overall cumulative risk.
Deliverables
1) To conduct a comprehensive review of available evidence and data relevant to the issue of risks from unmeasured chemicals in surface waters and organize these findings into a gap analysis.
2) To develop a framework to define unknown chemicals and suggest ways of assessing the actual (cumulative) risk they pose in surface waters considering available tools and current methodologies e.g., AOPs, non-target analysis, exposure assessment, effects-directed analysis, in situ experimental assays, predictive modeling.
3) To prepare a final report summarizing findings, identifying knowledge gaps and recommendations for future work.
4) To consider organizing a multistakeholder workshop with relevant expert to discuss and validate the project’s findings, identify priorities for future research and follow-up activities to better refine the chemical space and the impact of unmeasured chemicals in aquatic risk and mixture toxicity in surface waters.
Partnering / Co-funding
Applicants should provide an indication of additional partners and funding opportunities that can be appropriately leveraged as part of their proposal. Partners can include, but are not limited to industry, government/regulatory organizations, research institutes, etc. Statements from potential partners should be included in the proposal package.
Fit with LRI objectives / Possible regulatory and policy impact involvements / Dissemination
Applicants should provide information on the fit of their proposal with LRI objectives and an indication on how and where they could play a role in the regulatory and policy areas. Dissemination plans should also be laid down. For LRI objectives visit the website page: About Cefic-LRI – Cefic-Lri.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: January 17, 2027 at 11:59 PM CET.
Please see www.cefic-lri.org/funding-opportunities/apply-for-a-grant/ for general LRI objectives information, project proposal form and further guidance for grant applications. Please note that if awarded the project, the institute must be able to accept Belgian Law (or an equivalent European legal framework) in the contract. If there are questions, please email lri@cefic.be.
