Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic chemicals (PBTs) are increasingly getting on regulators' watch lists worldwide. Because of their hazardous nature, countries are screening for PBTs in order to restrict their widespread use, with even possible ban in some cases. The new REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) legislation in EU requires companies to assess PBT and vPvB (very Persistent, very Bioaccumulative) characteristics of the chemicals they manufacture or import into EU. Other countries such as Canada and Japan have already started the screening process for the chemicals in their national inventory lists, and placing restrictions on them. US-EPA conducts risk assessments for PBT characteristics, and actually maintains a PBT list for TRI (Toxic Release Inventory) reporting. While all this regulatory activity is designed to protect human health and the environment from exposure to hazardous chemicals, chemical companies face an ever-increasing challenge to screen their existing and new chemicals for PBT characteristics.

This paper will discuss various PBT criteria worldwide, various assessment techniques being used by the regulators and regulated, including the use of QSAR (quantitative structure-activity relationship), read-across from data on analogues, multi-tiered ecotoxicity testing, and so on.”

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