On 1 June 2007 the European Commission (EC) initiated its European chemicals legislation, REACH – Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & restrictions of Chemicals regulation to protect Europeans from misinformation and harmful chemicals. In 2022, it stands as one of the most comprehensive and protective regulatory frameworks for chemicals in the world and celebrates its fifteenth anniversary today on 1 June 2022. It continues to significantly improve the protection of human and environmental health by banning hazardous chemicals, encouraging innovation and keeping the European Union’s chemical industry competitive.
As science evolves, new threats are constantly being discovered and therefore a large majority of Europeans remain cautious about the impact chemicals may have on their health, wildlife and the environment. In response to these realities and aiming at ambitious environmental and health objectives by 2030 the EC launched Europe’s Green Deal, targeting the issues through the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and the Zero Pollution Action Plan. Among the different planned actions, several topics were launched under Horizon 2020 to fund projects on the matter.
In the European Union (EU), legislation requires screening and testing of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) according to the EU test methods regulation. However, current testing tools do not always appropriately identify effects, particularly those related to certain less-studied or newly emerging EDCs. New and improved approaches are urgently needed to better protect human and environmental health against the hazards of EDCs. EURION is a cluster group of eight research projects from the Call SC1-BHC-27-2018 – New testing and screening methods to identify endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). EURION is funded €50 million by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, the largest public funding of this type of research in Europe. Each project in the cluster is focusing on a different aspect of new testing and screening methods identifying EDCs.