Over the last five years successful platform and poster sessions (Helsinki 2019, SciCon 2020 and 2021) on the topic of invertebrate endocrine disruption/neuroendocrine disruption/toxicology at SETAC Europe annual meetings have highlighted the huge task still ahead to 1) understand specific aspects of endocrinology in such a large and diverse group of animals, 2) to predict the modulating effects of chemicals on invertebrates and 3) support regulatory test refinement/development. However, these sessions have also provided a platform to discuss current progress in the area on invertebrate endocrinology, neuroendocrinology and their disruption, facilitated debate and fostered new collaborations.

We intend to continue this fruitful tradition by welcoming presentations on studies developing invertebrate in silico, ex vivo, in vitro and in vivo approaches to chemical testing in invertebrates with endocrine or neuroendocrine mechanisms and endpoints. We also wish to specifically encourage researchers to present studies which investigate invertebrate enzymes involved in steroidogenesis and metabolism, natural ligands and endocrine/neuroendocrine signalling cascades (with or without chemical interventions), studies assessing ‘omics approaches to further our understanding of invertebrate endocrinology/neuroendocrinology and studies that broaden the diversity of invertebrate model species.

This preoccupation was reflected in EU 2017/2100 and EU 2018/605 normatives for biocidal and pesticides products. Nevertheless, humans and wildlife exposure to EDCs is not limited to these products, therefore, there is a need to extend these regulations and to integrate data to other products in order to minimize the risk.

A widespread hazard identification for endocrine-disrupting properties need to develop fast, economical and trustable tools able to screen huge number of molecules, as well as standardized criteria to interpret the results. In this context, rational approaches can be extremely helpful to identify harmful chemicals in a more automatized and rapid way. Until now, different in silico techniques have been used to this purpose, such as structural alerts, QSAR models, molecular docking, pharmacophore modelling and molecular dynamics simulations MDs (Porta N. et al. 2016).

Each technique has advantages/disadvantages with respect to the others. For example, the identification of structural alerts (that is, molecular substructures associated with a determined activity) are very intuitive but negative predictions are totally inconclusive. Techniques involving 3D structures (from both, the ED targets and ligands) such as docking and MDs are very powerful but are more time-expensive and are not recognized at regulatory level.

In this workshop we plan to discuss about these computational techniques, since standardized in silico protocols to predict endocrine disrupting (ED) properties could be of great help. The ultimate aim of the application of those techniques should be to establish a thorough in silico hazard identification protocol integrating different complementary techniques, were each of them will have a weight in the global prediction.

This session will explore the developments and applications of innovative approaches in the field of computational toxicology, which may cover approaches such as QSARs, read-across and grouping of chemicals. We welcome contributions with a focus on screening and prioritization of hazards, and on risk assessment applications. However, other use cases are also more than welcome. We encourage presentations that apply machine learning (ML) approaches, and also welcome specific considerations regarding regulatory acceptance of presented methodologies (e.g. transparency and interpretability). In addition, contributions with a focus on non-ML approaches or with a specific focus on why ML may not be beneficial in all situations are also supported. Within this session we encourage discussions on how to address uncertainties, challenges, potential limitations, advantages and needs for further development of computational approaches.

The session will cover:

• Identification of critical molecular changes of genes, proteins and metabolites underlying the interactive health effects of environmental mixtures using a variety of in vitro human cell culture systems and in vivo model organisms exposed to environmental chemicals and mixtures
• Development of AOPs that link molecular changes of gene, proteins, and metabolites from in vitro to in vivo and AOs either by comparison of the in vitro and in vivo changes after treatment with environmental mixtures or by focused in vivo testing to examine AOs indicated by alterations in the AOPs
• Case studies on the application of OMICS and pathway-based data combined with the currently available epidemiology evidence and clinical observations to characterize and predict interactive health effects resulting from the exposures to environmental mixtures

This interdisciplinary topic may also be of interest to researchers from other fields such as nutrition, environmental analysis and medicine, working on different model systems (e.g., humans, animals, and plants). The main objective of this session is to present advances in research related to this challenging field by integrating researchers with different backgrounds to delve into the microbiota-pollutant interactions as well as current methodologies that can be applied. We invite contributions dealing with, but not limited to: (i) integrative omic and meta-omic approaches to characterize the effects of pollutants (or nutrients) on host-associated and free-living microbiomes; (ii) stressors’ effects on human or environmental microbial diversity, especially those that contribute to ecosystem functioning or phenotypic endpoints of health, (iii) single or multiple stressor(s) across different environments or host species with the purpose to derive generalizable insights into microbiomes’ stress responses, and (iv) identification of microbial indicators (e.g., taxa or keystone species or guilds) responsive to single or multiple stressors, highlighting community-level signatures of stressed microbiomes.

Abstracts are welcomed and encouraged on all Daphnia focused work including, but not limited to, evolutionary biology of Daphnia, ecotoxicology approaches including omics and cellular/molecular methods, high throughput and NAMs, modelling (i.e., toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic, AOPs, Bayesian modelling and machine learning) and regulatory updates using Daphnia.

Despite the evidence in the field has been growing in the recent past, little is known about the normal functioning and natural variation of epigenetic traits, especially within non-medical arenas , on whether or not changes in those traits triggered by environmental stressors are responsible for adverse outcomes, or on the variability of epigenetic responses across different species. The generation and sharing of clarifying knowledge in this context is then critical to promote the incorporation of epigenetic responses in risk assessment frameworks as it will allow to better establish (i) reliable epigenetic endpoints and biomarkers; (ii) representative models from different environmental compartments whose epigenome is sensitive and responsible in a stable way; (iii) sources of and ways to control experimental uncertainty; (iv) parallels between epigenetic responses across model organisms and between these and humans; (v) links between epigenomic initiating events and phenotypic effects, completing adverse outcome pathways potentially allowing read-across within specific classes of chemicals; (vi) efficient and sustainable methods to access stressor-induced changes in the epigenome; (vii) guidelines to identify and interpret evolutionary consequences of stressor-induced epigenetic changes. We invite contributions that can provide insights into these gaps, regardless to the taxa or the specific scope focused, with the aim to create a fruitful forum to share knowledge, ideas, and discuss future directions that will facilitate the incorporation of the emerging findings in environmental epigenetics into environmental risk assessment.

Within this session, we intend to show recent developments in toxicological research using a variety of different fish model species, novel systems, endpoints, assays and testing strategies. We will focus on molecular approaches that could lead to new AOPs and additional endpoints, e.g. behavioral assays. Results of toxicity studies of single stressors as well as complex environmental samples or “defined” mixtures are of interest. Molecular effects multigenerational effects, and population level impacts will be considered. We especially welcome presentations highlighting all omics approaches including toxicometabolomics, ideally linking these effects to phenotypes. The session will be interdisciplinary and bring together researchers across a wide range of research areas with the view to enhance approaches for studying adverse effects in human and wildlife.

The available studies with particles in the low micro- and nano-meter range are scarce, due to technical challenges. The lack of standardization of current analytical techniques, sampling methodologies, and associated laboratory analyses of environmental and biological micro(nano)plastic samples precludes a reliable quantitative risk assessment. Thus, it is important to frame the research needs and priorities in the context of being able to perform quantitative risk assessment to inform regulatory management (i.e., risk management measures or exposure minimization technology) and effective policy solutions.  The session highlights research which evaluates the magnitude and relevance of different environmental & biological fate processes (e.g., modelling sensitivity analyses, comparative kinetic rate data, etc…). Studies that examine the effects of both MPs and NPs in the different organisms are welcome, especially those related to the human food web; in this context, adaptation of ecotoxicity standard tests for MPs and NPs are also welcome. Finally, mechanistic approaches are needed to identify the cascade of signalling events at different levels of biological organization, which induce a cellular, whole organism or ecological response to MPs and NPs exposure. For that purpose, we invite contributions that amplify the knowledge on high-throughput techniques (RNA-Seq, proteomics and metabolomics) that may allow the generation of biomarkers (genes and proteins) which elucidate the biological effects of MPs and NPs.

Regulation is beginning to move towards considering PFAS as a class of chemicals, rather than evaluating each individually, given their similarity in structure. Exposure to multiple PFAS members is likely to result in synergistic effects, due to similar modes of action. A holistic “One Health” approach is needed to accelerate knowledge transfer from human toxicology and biomonitoring researchers to ecological and ecotoxicological research and vice versa.

This session aims to bring together current knowledge on mechanisms of action of PFAS family members, focussing on methodological advances and integrated workflows irrespective of whether in humans, environmental species or whole ecosystems. We are specifically interested in approaches using molecular systems biology, toxicogenomics and phenotypic screening, supported by bioinformatics and cheminformatics. The session supports a One Health perspective for PFAS, supporting knowledge transfer and methodological comparison across domains and environmental compartments. Advances in smart (fast, low-cost and accurate) detection and quantification of PFAS are welcome. Progress towards Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment (IATA) and Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) for PFAS is welcome.  The session aims to stimulate discussion and support the community in expanding the ERA framework of non-regulated PFAS and congener mixtures and implementing IATA for PFAS applicable for human and environmental risk assessment.

This session seeks abstracts that move beyond describing changes in, for example, gene or protein expression or changes in methylation status in exposed test systems and instead, demonstrate causality between chemical exposure, key events, and apical outcomes. Causality can be demonstrated using a combination of pharmacological agents, gene editing or through the development of quantitative AOPs. We welcome contributions that mechanistically dissect whole-organism responses and specific phenotypes in ecologically relevant NAMs. We further welcome studies that anchor publicly available human toxicological NAM data to ecologically relevant apical outcomes. Overall, this session will highlight innovative science that advances the use of AOPs and mechanism-based research to illuminate fundamental relationships between chemical exposure, molecular perturbations, and adverse outcomes.

Toxicity of Mixture of pesticides is not covered sufficiently in soil risk assessment, neither in the scientific literature, leaving a gap on our understanding and raising serious concerns on their effects on soil health.

Our knowledge of the impacts of single pesticides is in fact surprisingly, and specially limited for long-term, low dose exposures, and non-standard toxicological species (De Lima et al., 2020). Given the current focus on soil health, via soil mission and zero pollution strategy, and the 50% target reduction of the use and risk of pesticides by 2030 of the Farm2Fork strategy it is urgent to highlight and further explore mixtures discussion. In this session we are looking for new data on pesticides mixtures (from field, modelling or laboratorial assessments), uses of mixtures data (e.g., combination with other soil health indicators, setting trigger values for soil protection),  tools and approaches to (better) assess and reduce the risks of mixtures of pesticide residues to soil health.

De Lima et al. 2020. Toxicity in Neonicotinoids to Folsomia candida and Eisenia andrei. ET&C, 39(3)548–555.

Silva et al. 2019. Pesticide residues in European agricultural soils—A hidden reality unfolded. Sci Total Environ, 653:1532–1545.

Tang et al. 2021. Risk of pesticide pollution at the global scale Nature Geoscience (14):206–210.

Silva et al. 2022. Environmental and human health at risk – Scenarios to achieve the Farm to Fork 50% pesticide reduction goals. Environment International 165: 107296

• Contaminant sources, characterization and fate; including contaminants of emerging concern
• Influence of environmental parameters (e.g., temperature, salinity, organic matter) on degradation, distribution and effects of contaminants in the tropical regions.  
• The ecotoxicological/ecological effects of pollutants in tropical regions including effects on the immune system, endocrine disruption, reproductive and developmental toxicity, biodiversity and ecosystems.  
• Risk assessment in tropical regions at different types of habitats (e.g., mangroves, coral reefs, rainforests, cloud forest, dry tropical forest)
• Research gaps related to impacts of pollution in tropical ecosystems.

This session is an initiative of the SETAC Plant Interest Group and welcomes scientific contributions in the fields of aquatic and terrestrial plant ecology and ecotoxicology especially focusing on the impacts of contaminants and pollutants on plants in order to aid the concept of a reduced pollution society.  Abstracts may cover algae, mosses, ferns or higher aquatic and terrestrial plants in the following areas:

• Developments in the guidance for the risk assessment of pesticides and other chemicals
• Test methods for assessing chemical effects on plants e.g., experimental methods for new standard test species, recommended endpoints for use in risk assessment, mesocosm studies
• Challenges relating to the measurement of reproductive parameters and visible injury in plants
• Methods for evaluating the potential of plants to recover from adverse impacts.
• Use of plant data (especially large data sets) in chemical risk assessments and associated tools (e.g., modelling, species sensitivity distributions).
• Understanding plant community composition and dynamics leading to a better understanding of biodiversity and succession to inform protection goals and experimental methods for chemical risk assessment.
• Using plants in buffer zones to mitigate exposure of aquatic and terrestrial environments.
• Use of aquatic and terrestrial plants in artificial plant communities for phytoremediation.
• Control of invasive aquatic, riparian and terrestrial plant species and how data from control programs could be used to inform chemical risk assessment (e.g., assessment of potential for recovery).
• Existing and novel approaches to share, edit and use large plant-connected data sets to support protection of plant communities.

In this session, we want to bring together the efforts done by scientists from all areas to study the effects of contaminants (and not just the exposure) in the field, and we want to focus on wildlife due to its capacity to evidence effects at lower tropic levels. The session intends to be a compendium of all methodologies that can be used to understand the real impact of regulated and non-regulated contaminants on individuals and populations. The topics to be covered include (but are not limited to):

1. a) Proposal of post-registration monitoring programs.
2. b) Difficulties and methods to disentangling effects from different stressors.
3. c) Difficulties when monitoring non-persistent pollutants and how to deal with the underestimation of exposure.
4. d) New effects biomarkers to be used in field studies.
5. e) Research tools to be used in field studies (e.g. statistics, GIS, public databases, citizen science derived information…)
6. f) Proposal for long-term effect studies design.

Consequently, organisms affected in soil and aquatic systems are threatened by these emergent contaminants, as well as their interactions with the components of the recipient complex matrices (e.g., dissolved organic matter; DOM) and other abiotic factors, within a multi-stressor environment. Therefore, we aim to accept works specifically looking at the effects observed in either or both soil and aquatic ecosystems that are related to exposure to emergent contaminants through WWTP effluents and SS or similar systems. These include but are not limited to single species, mesocosm-like studies, sub-individual, individual or populations effects, looking to fill the gap between laboratory and field conditions and the much-needed integration between aquatic and soil systems.

In this session, we welcome submissions on the development and application of aquatic ecosystem models to semi-field or field studies in the scope of pesticide, but also more generally chemical risk assessment. Especially welcome are contributions on methodological aspects of model adaptation, calibration, validation, uncertainty quantification, and extrapolation to untested exposure patterns. We also welcome talks on semi-field and field studies that can provide key information to define species vulnerability, food webs, and species interactions that support the development of aquatic ecosystem and other mechanistic effect models for chemical risk assessment.

This session aims to present research on 1) new, 2) ongoing developments and 3) revisions in all fields of arthropod risk assessment and environmental toxicology. This may include such diverse topics as research aligned to EFSA aquatic guidance document, the recent NTA EFSA Scientific Opinion document, but also aspects from the current in-soil organism EFSA Scientific Opinion. Consequently, presentations in this session may comprise, but do not have to be limited to, finding adequate species and setups to address (new) data requirements and research demands, results of small scale and community effect studies, exposure assessments as well as modelling exercises on either individual, population and/or landscape level. Research focused on acute and chronic assessments of arthropods, on spatial and temporal ecology of pollinators (including non-bees) and other members of this important group in various landscapes as well as ideas and opinions on the future challenges of risk assessment are more than welcome to be shared here with the interested community and fellow scientists.

1. Albert et al., Ambio, 2021. 50(1):85 2. Díaz et al., IPBES Report, 2019: Bonn, Germany. p. 171. 3. Biggs et al., Hydrobiologia, 2017. 793(1):3. 4. Riley et al., Sci Total Environ, 2018. 645:1598. 5. Scheffer et al., Oikos, 2006. 112:227. 6. Rosentreter et al., Nat Geosci, 2021. 14(4):225. 7. Gibbons et al., Cons Biol, 2006. 20(5):1457. 8. Čejka, Acta Zool Bulgarica, 2019. 71:p.241. 9. Monastersky Nature News, 2014. 516(7530):158. 10. Stuart et al., Science, 2004. 306(5702):1783. 11. Cuttelod, European Red List of Non-marine Molluscs. 2011, Luxembourg.

To better understand, disentangle, and mitigate the effects of these threats to pollinators we must expand the traditional pollinator protection strategies (e g. risk assessment and land management practices etc.) to match these new challenges. Therefore, this session aims to provide a holistic overview of factors impacting pollinator health and diversity. Therefore, we invite and encourage contributions from all stakeholders including academia, industry, government agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations, and those that manage pollinators to provide new perspectives on the current and potential future topic of pollinator conservation in agricultural and non-agricultural habitats.  

These contributions can include, but are not limited to new risk assessment perspectives (e.g., exploring multi stressor assessment), alternative perspectives (e.g., product life cycle assessments), and emerging methodologies (e.g., NAMS; such as toxicogenomic and other in vivo, in vitro & in silico approaches), which aim to quantify or mitigate the impact of anthropogenic stressors on all levels of organizations starting from individual pollinator species up to population and landscape level. This can also include presentations on approaches to improve pollinator health in the context of ecosystem services.  

We welcome cross-disciplinary submissions that transcend traditional boundaries and aim to incorporate emerging perspectives and methods in a global, ecological, regulatory, and conservation context.

The soil compartment is often subjected to several threats from direct or indirect anthropogenic sources, with climate change posing extra challenges to this complex ecosystem. Agricultural and forestry practices, urbanization (e.g., waste disposal, soil sealing), mining and industrial activities are among the main causes of soil misuse and overexploitation. Change in the soil quality status by any alteration of either the physical, chemical or structural composition affects the soil biota and threatens soils’ ecosystem functions and services.  Consequently, soil contamination and climate alterations, especially extreme events, are paramount to be considered in risk assessment procedures.  

The Report on Climate Changes and Land from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released in August 2019, states that land is a critical resource and “Land already in use could feed the world in a changing climate and provide biomass for renewable energy, but early, far-reaching action across several areas is required”, along with “the conservation and restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity”. Therefore, in this session we intend to cover studies on soil functional parameters and their direct relation to biodiversity conservation and restoration. We especially invite studies aimed at understanding how soil ecosystem functions are affected by climate change, including carbon dioxide and temperature increase, droughts, and floods, and/or pollution scenarios with examples from emergent contaminants or contaminants of interest, under laboratory and (semi)field studies. These include case studies on biological responses, simulation models for the prediction of pollutant effects on community dynamics based on initial preliminary screening. Soil functions include soil structure maintenance, organic matter dynamics, nutrient cycling, biological population regulation, habitat provision and primary production. Studies can therefore be related to several relevant indicators and endpoints to be measured to understand how stressors can disrupt soil dynamics, along with new tools and predictive models for the occurrence of potential effects on soil functions.

The main objective of this session is to present new research related to a better understanding concerning the use of biomarkers in a biomonitoring context, and their relationship with chemical exposure and biodiversity, both under field and laboratory conditions. Thus, potential topics include, but are not limited to: 1) integration of biotic and abiotic confounding factors on biomarker responses (e.g. reference and statistical threshold values) to ensure that observations are strictly related to chemical exposure; 2) evaluation of biomarker kinetics in terms of time or dose-dependent responses to chemicals (e.g. explore the TK-TD relationship experimentally or based on modelling approach); 3) characterization of cascade effects from the sub-individual or individual level to higher levels of biological organization, with a direct relevance to toxicological risk assessment (e.g. DEB model; population dynamic models; quantitative AOPs); 4) persistence or plasticity of biomarker responses throughout an organism’s lifetime and/or future generations.

This session calls for abstracts relating to:

• the quantification and use of contaminant parent compound combined with metabolite / transformation product concentrations in wildlife to gain a greater understanding of the magnitude and peaks in exposure to, and effects of, readily metabolised pollutants;
• how PBPK models may be used to back-calculate exposure to less persistent contaminants and interpret when and where after exposure of wildlife to those contaminants will their concentration be highest in the organism;
• Whether biomarkers can be used in a monitoring context to further characterise the exposure to and effects of vMvT chemicals; and
• What factors may confound the use of these approaches.

Firstly, a shift is observed in the way HC-based energy operations are managed. Regulations become more eco-centric, to include risk-based evaluations, implementation of sustainability strategies and introduction of net-zero approaches. Second, a new range of products are being established, characterized by reduced (carbon) emissions. New transportation fuels have been developed, chemically similar to petroleum-based fuels but generated from renewable sources. In other cases, fuels are derived from petroleum but are chemically modified to generate less pollution when burned. Biological feedstocks are produced in larger quantities and transported for processing into renewable fuels. Other examples of changing energy systems are capture, utilization and storage of CO2, intensified development of wind, solar, new energy carriers and battery improvement. Although these activities are less carbon intense, they are not possible without chemicals; there is still risk of environmental deterioration if not managed properly. For example, hydrogen production may result in brine discharges, electrification requires mining rare earth metals, and accidental release of new fuels and feedstocks can impact the environment. Transport and use of low sulfur fuels, biodiesels and other non-petroleum feedstocks lead to challenges for current practices in spill response, clean-up, and restoration.  

This session will cover environmental challenges related to conventional and renewable energy systems. The need for improved regulatory approaches, risk-based tools and LCA will be covered, as well as emerging environmental challenges with conventional and renewable energy carriers, and CO2 abatement. We will discuss research on the chemistry of emerging fuels and biological feedstocks, their fate in the natural environment and effects on biota, and new technologies for measuring and tracking these materials in the environment. Modelling studies to aid in emergency response or environmental restoration are also welcome.

• Toxicokinetics describes how a toxicant enters the body and reaches a target tissue. It can be divided into: absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME). Toxicodynamics describes what happens to a body or a tissue once the toxicant reaches an effective dose. It can be divided into different levels: molecular, cellular, tissue, organ, and individual. Developments in modelling toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics have brought significant progress in risk assessment for chemicals. Ideally, the concentration of toxicants at target sites is the connector between toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics. With various toxicokinetic models such as physiologically-based toxicokinetic models (PBTK) and subcellular partitioning-based toxicokinetic models, more reliable estimates of the biologically effective dose could be obtained. Therefore, the relationship between internal dose kinetics and the dynamics of physiological parameters could be better understood (e.g., biomarker response dynamic) and used to predict final endpoints. In particular, quantitative adverse outcome pathways (qAOP) enable further delineation of toxicodynamics in which molecular and cellular effects could be related to the impacts at higher levels of biological organization. These approaches might be an effective tool to address the shortfall between observations in toxicity tests and protection goals of ecological risk assessment.

This session provides new developments of the toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic (TK-TD) modelling and its application in environmental risk assessment. Specifically, this session focuses on the following issues:

• Integration of effect mechanisms
• Modelling of toxicokinetics
• Modelling of toxicodynamic
• Integration of quantitative adverse outcome pathways into toxicodynamics
• Application in Environmental Risk Assessment
• From molecules to the population level

This session provides a platform to highlight such advances, with a particular focus on how models can enhance environmental risk assessment and decision-making. We welcome any presentations that can provide inputs to environmental exposure assessment, from life-cycle and material-flow analysis models that provide release estimates, to process-based or data-driven fate models that predict concentrations in one or multiple environmental compartments. Topics of interest include:

• Integration of exposure modelling approaches (material flow, fate, at various spatial & temporal scales) with modelling approaches from other related fields of research, such as from the social and techno-economic domains, in order to better predict impacts.
• Data-driven and machine-learning approaches for leveraging the increased availability of complex environmental data.
• Models for legacy and emerging contaminants, including (but not limited to) organic pollutants, metals, engineered nanomaterials, micro- and nanoplastics.
• Best practices in sharing, documenting and making FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reproducible) open-source software and data, to facilitate use by different stakeholders in environmental risk assessment, regulation and safe-by-design.

References:

1. Ecotoxicological Assessment of Immersion Samples from Façade Render Containing Free or Encapsulated Biocides: Ecotoxicity of leachates from façade renders with biocides

Vermeirssen ELM, Campiche S, Dietschweiler C, Burkhardt M Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 37(8) 2018

2. Application, release, ecotoxicological assessment of biocide in building materials and its soil microbial response

Reiß F, Kiefer N, Noll M, Kalkhof S Ecotoxicol Environ Saf ;224(8) 2021

On one side, these changes have favoured the development of cruise tourism, resource extraction (oil, gas and minerals) and fisheries, which has increased the human impact in terms of local contamination. On the other side, CC is causing an increase in transport (both atmospheric and oceanic) of pollutants from mid-latitude into the polar environments and sea-ice and glacier melting might release previously trapped contaminants, thus representing a secondary source of pollution. These aspects are causing stress on the complex polar marine food web, with rapid habitat and biodiversity modifications. Although several studies have been performed to investigate the occurrence of legacy contaminants, the recent interest of the scientific community is focusing on several classes of emerging pollutants in the polar areas. In this context, numerous open questions need to be answered.

This session will constitute a discussion arena on the latest research results about the interactions between climate change and legacy and emerging contaminants in the Arctic and Antarctica. This Session will include field and laboratory observations, as well as studies on the combined effects of multiple stressors, climate change and modelling of Arctic contaminants. The session will address, but not be limited to the following key issues in this field: Effects of CC on the distribution of legacy and emerging pollutants in different environmental compartments in Polar regions; interaction between new and old pollutants and biological sphere at different levels of the trophic web; identification of physical and geological processes acting as drivers for CC.

Research in this session will be key to facilitating the baseline work needed for new policy such as the EU Commission’s Zero Pollution Action Plan and Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. The scope of this session covers research on: (i) the distribution of pollutants in environmental media and exposure to coastal organisms; (ii) the unique biogeochemistry of pollutants in coastal systems; (iii) the role of biovectors in pollutant distribution; (iv) the acute and chronic effects on coastal ecosystems due to pollutant exposure; (v) the assessment of exposure between background and contaminated sites. We welcome research stemming from controlled experimental designs, field-based studies, and spatiotemporal modelling to provide important site-specific information on pollutant mobility, bioavailability, toxicity and ecological effects. This work is critical to the environment and the health of all Europeans.

Three of the co-chairs (O’Driscoll, Mallory, Canário) have decades of experience working with SETAC and chairing many successful sessions concerning pollutants and coastal ecosystems at European and North American meetings. We have invited an early career researcher (Cesário) to be part of the session organization.  This topic is of great interest to a wide range of researchers, government agencies, and industries, as such we expect a large number of abstracts to be submitted.

With this session, we will bring together all those groups working on emerging organic contaminants in the marine environment, from estuaries and transitional waters, coastal areas and open ocean to the Polar Regions. It will focus on the atmospheric and oceanic transport, air-water exchange, sedimentation, bioaccumulation and effects of emerging organic contaminants in the oceans at different spatial and temporal scales. A particular focus will be given to the occurrence and fate of emerging organic contaminants in the oceans and their challenges to environmental analysis, monitoring and environmental risk assessments.

This session aims to provide a platform exploring solutions for characterizing exposure critical to the advancement of microplastic risk assessment. In the absence of guidance for best practice and standard methods, research efforts may be futile, whilst the knowledge gained for disparate and fragmented exposure matrices will be incremental. For the field to progress, we need a robust database on human exposure – external and internal – providing the scientific foundation for producing reliable and relevant assessments. 

We want to showcase the state-of-the-science in human exposure to micro- and nanoplastic, working towards best practice in the scientific community. Research on new scientific developments for measuring plastic materials in both external exposure matrices (e.g., food, beverages, air) and biological tissues (indicative of internal dose), used to support mass balance modelling efforts as well as the development of physiologically based pharmacokinetic models are welcomed. Studies that include advances in sample preparation, clean-up and analysis using a variety of techniques are encouraged, as are those that report on bioavailability and systemic mechanisms of uptake, distribution, and biological fate of micro- and nanoplastic in humans. We expect QAQC to be an undercurrent theme throughout, representing a critical element facilitating a science-based decision-making process.

Fate of organic compounds within the soil-plant continuum is a complex topic with various facets influencing the uptake and metabolism of organic contaminants by field crop plants or weeds, as well as water flow and chemical dynamics in soil. More research must be conducted in order to obtain a mechanistic understanding of translocation and transformation processes. A broad spectrum of experimental data is required to cover different environmental conditions, plant-specific characteristics and the diversity of chemical substances. Only on this basis the existing modelling framework can be further developed. There are various open questions. For example, little is known about the exposure of organic contaminants on non-target organism (e.g., birds, rodents and insects) ingesting parts of weeds or crop plants.

This is a call for abstracts dealing with the fate of organic compounds in the soil-plant continuum. Model approaches and experimental works in this field are highly welcomed, such as investigating coupled processes of plant uptake and reactive transport in soil or relations between soil properties and plant uptake of organic contaminants. This session shall be an appraisal by representatives from science, authorities and industry in order to build bridges for sustainable environmental protection and agriculture.

The proposed session is open to contributions addressing one of the following topics: 1) development of novel analytical methods for the analysis of organic pollutants and their METs/TPs; 2) suspect/non-target screening of METs/TPs in the environment, plants, biota and in engineered systems; 3) Semi/quantification of organic pollutants and their METs/TPs without standards with HRMS.

References

European Environment Agency, 2020. Interview — Does the polluter pay? Available:  https://www.eea.europa.eu/signals/signals-2020/articles/interview-does-the-polluter-pay (11th August 2022).

Some CECs such as flame retardants are transported long range, which results in a global distribution even in remote regions; other CECs have the potential to accumulate in aquatic food webs. CECs can be transformed by biotic (i.e., microorganisms and wildlife) or abiotic (e.g., ultraviolet) processes. Suspect and nontarget screening approaches are now being used to identify new compounds and to reassess archived samples for chemicals of concern. However, the challenge of mixture effects remains. It is virtually impossible to reliably assess water quality with target analysis only.  

The likely presence of a complex mixture of micropollutants in surface water emphasizes the need for a bioanalytical health-related approach to evaluate water safety. Effect based monitoring (EBM) for determination of water quality can be used to identify potential pollution hotspots, using a combination of bioassays and chemical analysis. Biomonitoring and EBM can indicate which, when and where compounds should be monitored, and passive sampling can be used in combination with in-situ, in-vivo and in vitro bioassays to assess the pollutant impacts on water quality and assess risk. Research relating to the occurrence, monitoring and fate of emerging contaminants in the environment is also welcomed. Modern analytical techniques employing spectroscopy, mass spectrometry (target and non-target analysis), novel sampling methods including passive sampling, or bioassays including effect-based approaches, along with advances in sample collection & preparation and computational and data analysis advances are also within the scope of this session.  

We welcome contributions from early/mid-career scientists in this important topic.

Considering the impact of spatial and temporal variability of pedo-climatic conditions on the environmental fate and behaviour of pesticides leads to a more realistic exposure assessment. Other factors to take into account encompass the variability of agricultural practice and crop parameters. This allows a more comprehensive tiered risk assessments especially in combination with effect models. It is also the prerequisite for targeted and meaningful mitigation measures to avoid situations in which adverse environmental effects cannot be ruled out.

Sites may also be affected by residues of pesticides originating from manufacturing, illegal dumping or accidents. Treatment of these historical sites such as the remediation of persistent pesticides and their transformation compounds could help minimizing further environmental impacts.

In this session scientific and regulatory aspects regarding the environmental fate and exposure assessment of pesticides as well as remediation methods should be presented. The session should therefore act as an interface between scientific knowledge, regulatory needs and industry aspects. It is further intended to stimulate intensive discussions and joint initiatives between the different stakeholders in this scientific and political field of tension.

Analysis through environmental and human-focused epidemiology studies are also appropriate for this session. A particularly timely area for inclusion in this session are studies focused on pathogenic microbes in wastewater on subjects ranging from methods, transport and decay in the sewershed, and relation between detections and community infection rates. Studies describing the results of non-targeted and retrospective analyses are of particular interest both for wastewater treatment and soil and crops within the reuse regime. This session welcomes submissions from experimental work at the laboratory, pilot, and field scales, and modeling studies of the fate and removal of CEC in passive, traditional and advanced wastewater treatment systems, including direct or de facto water reuse, as well as decentralized wastewater, and on-site septic treatment, in urban and rural areas.

We welcome abstracts addressing pet animals’ health concerns from chemical exposure, and how pet animals can be used to explore chemical related health concerns of humans. This session theme is also expected to lead to the understanding of indoor environmental pollution, and the presentation of guidelines for new risk assessment methods for humans (especially infants) and pets.

Once emitted into the environment, PMT/vPvM substances can move far from the point of release and remain circulating in the water cycle for long periods of time. The same intrinsic substance properties that make them persistent and mobile hinder water treatment processes, such as degradation by ozone and UV or their retention via filtration using e.g. activated charcoal.

Data-driven environmental decision-making are especially for persistent and mobile substances important for the protection and restoration of the environment. A key reason for this are the large number of substances in the chemical market, and for most of these there are data gaps related to their intrinsic substances properties of persistence and mobility and on their environmental presence. This is because the most mobile contaminants in the aquatic environment are amongst the most difficult to measure.

This session welcomes diverse presentations related to the assessment, management and regulation. This include biomonitoring, environmental monitoring, methods for analysis, biomarkers as well as new risk assessment tools, covering both exposure and toxicity. The session also seeks presentations on novel emerging cheminformatics, non-target analysis approaches and on solutions, including regulation, the essential use concept, safer alternatives, alternatives assessment and grouping methods (e.g. for PFAS), as well as the implementation of remediation technologies.

The aim of this session is to stimulate the interdisciplinary exchange between specialists on fate and transport, exposure assessment and water monitoring on the one hand, and experts on hazard assessment, risk mitigation and regulation on the other hand. We expect presenters from chemical producers, downstream users, regulatory authorities, NGOs, water suppliers, scientists and of course students.

Come and present your work on persistent and mobile substances and discuss with a wide, transdisciplinary audience.

Research has demonstrated profound contamination with plastic additives in water, soil, & air.^3–6 However, many plastic additives are under-characterized in terms of environmental emissions, fate, & impacts. Recent advances in non-targeted analysis have led to the identification of previously overlooked additives in the environment.^7,8 In addition, empirical evidence continues to demonstrate that many additives can be environmentally transformed into new compounds that may be more hazardous than parent compounds.⁴ For example, p-phenylenediamines, which are rubber tire antiozonants, readily convert into quinone derivatives that are released into the environment.^5,9 One transformation product, 6PPD-quinone, causes mass coho salmon mortality, & is acutely lethal to other salmonids.^9,10

Due to the increasing number of additives that have been shown to disrupt the environment, we are soliciting abstracts that demonstrate research pertaining to environmental exposure, fate, & impacts of polymer additives and their derivatives. This topic is gaining significant global research interest from scientists, regulators, & the public alike. Attendees of this session will gain access to emerging information on this topic and remain at the forefront of related scientific research. In addition to contributions advancing the state of the science through laboratory or field studies, we encourage submissions from government & industry to discuss how these stakeholders respond to the rapidly evolving science & discuss information required to make regulatory decisions.

References

(1) Hahladakis N. et al. J. Hazard. Mater. 2018.

(2) Wiesinger, H. et al. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2021.

(3) Peter, K.T. et al. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2022.

(4) Liu, Q.et al. Nat. 2021 6007889 2021.

(5) Cao, G. et al. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2022.

(6) Johannessen, C. et al. Environ. Pollut. 2021.

(7) Petras, D. et al. Chemosphere 2021.

(8) Seiwert, B et al. Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 2020.

(9) Tian, Z. et al. Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 2022.

(10) Brinkmann, M. et al. Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 2022.

Metals may enter the environment from a variety of natural and anthropogenic sources. At low levels, they are harmless or even essential for biota. At excessive levels, they may become toxic through a variety of modes of action. Once in the environment, metals are subject to a set of complex multiphase speciation reactions including sorption, precipitation, complexation, redox reactions, settling, resuspension, burial, and remineralization. For some metals, ample data is already available. For others, including some technology-critical metals, this is much less the case. This elicits the need to generate data, and to develop modelling techniques for data-gap filling.

This session will review, through case studies, the ongoing advances in the science related to metals in the environment. We welcome both novel findings as well as reviews of available information. We particularly welcome submissions on:

• Source apportionment of metals in the environment
• The fate of metals in the environment
• The mode of action of metal toxicity in biota
• Metal speciation and bioavailability
• Experimental and modelling approaches for less-well studied metals

These scientific developments will contribute to more realism, and less uncertainty, in regulatory assessments and policies. For example, source apportionments will inform effective regulatory risk management measures. Information on the mode of action of metal toxicity will inform regulatory assessments of endocrine disruption, which is a key policy commitment of the EU Green Deal as well as in other jurisdictions worldwide. A separate session will welcome submissions about applying these scientific advancements in regulations.

In this session we aim to discuss topics such as the practical applications of NTS in environmental sciences, the state of the art in terms of the instrumental setup as well as the data processing and prioritization approaches and finally future challenges and perspectives of NTS. We particularly welcome contributions related to new analytical tools and advances in NTS, such as applications with incorporation of IMS, in-silico prediction models, and semi-quantification strategies. Nevertheless, we support broader applications, thus, if your study is highlighted by some of the following keywords, you are encouraged to contribute to this session: non-target screening (NTS) workflows, HRMS, ion mobility separations, semi-quantification, in-silico prediction, chemo-informatics tools, and effect-based analysis (EDA). Increasing our knowledge on this area is essential to design effective strategies that can contribute to “One Health” actions for a sustainable environment, while at the same time protecting public health.

This session presents state-of-the-art developments to obtain better environmentally relevant MnP exposure and effect data, particularly through improved analytics and experimental designs, enabling consistent risk assessment. This includes characterizing the diversity of MnPs as present in complex environmental matrices and developing assays for the effects of these MnPs. Work describing the creation of pristine and/or environmentally relevant (weathered) reference materials, including plastic-associated chemicals or sorbed trace compounds, is encouraged. Contributions emphasizing analytical techniques to assess the diversity of MnP, such as particle size, chemical composition and mass are welcome. Furthermore, collection, handling and preparation of MnPs-containing samples from complex environmental matrices will be considered. New approaches in experimental design which facilitate MnPs analysis are also of interest. Tools and methods to harmonize and simplify the data analysis required for exposure and effect assessment may be presented and could include development of analytical methods, software, databases, meta-analyses, and automation workflows. Finally, we welcome methods to harmonize the reporting of MnPs data for new risk assessment frameworks under development, which can help inform policies needed to solve the environmental plastics challenge.

The session will cover:

• Advanced BMD approaches for estimating a multivariate or joint benchmark dose simultaneously and analyzing mixed outcomes combining dichotomous and continuous endpoints obtained from traditional toxicological studies in vivo
• Optimized and improved BMD approaches for analysis of in vitro high throughput chemical screening and pathway-based data, which usually contain hundreds of molecular responses and outcome endpoints
• Case studies on applications of the advanced BMD approaches to analysis of high-throughput toxicology data obtained from in vivo traditional studies at levels of tissues and even whole organisms, as well as in vitro high throughput chemical toxicity screening at molecular and cellular levels for risk assessment purposes

 In summary, this session will present both current research and improved multivariate BMD approaches/methods and applications and is intended to be of interest to academic scientists, industrial professionals, and regulatory-decision makers, particularly those working on human health risk assessment of environmental chemicals.

Since 2006, industry has to provide an environmental dossier before a new medicine is allowed on the EU market. However, of the approximately 1500 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) on the European market, the majority were introduced before 2006 and lacks a comprehensive environmental dossier and assessment. As a consequence, the Information to assess the environmental risk of APIs is scarce and scattered.

The large number of APIs on the market and the scarcity of environmental data, triggers the question which (groups of) APIs should be addressed first in terms of environmental risk assessment and mitigation. There is a need for intelligent approaches to prioritize (groups of) APIs, so the APIs that are most likely to trigger substantial environmental risks can be assessed and mitigated first. A variety of approaches has been described in literature, but these all suffer from uncertainties, data gaps and a lack of harmonization. The aim of the current session is to give an overview of recent developments in the field of prioritization of APIs for environmental risk assessment and mitigation, focusing on the following questions:

• What data are needed to prioritize APIs based on expected environment risk and how can these data be accessed?
• In what way does prioritization for risk assessment differ from prioritization for risk mitigation?
• What role do mode-of-action considerations play in the prioritization of APIs?
• How can mixture effects be accounted for in the prioritization of APIs?
• What role do exposure considerations play in the prioritization of APIs and does it make a difference whether predicted or measured exposure concentrations are being used?
• How does the spatial scale influence the prioritization of APIs; or how do local and regional prioritization differ from (inter)national prioritization?

Creating a nature-positive future requires positive messaging, measures, and metrics to guide, plan, assess and communicate regenerative development outcomes beyond toxicology, risk and damage assessment. Apart from scaling up effective efforts to reverse  climate-driven biodiversity viability loss, a nature-positive future needs science, investment, and targeted action to increase gains and reap extensive beneficial synergies. The session aims to clarify concepts, challenges, and approaches in modelling, measuring, and communicating gains in accelerating restoration and climate security through benefit assessment. Existing real-world, third-party certified case studies demonstrate how coupled benefit and damage assessment can assign damage and loss as negative debts and benefits as positive gains. This session will promote successful communication of net-positive environmental risk-benefit assessment outcomes that: 

• support policy, people and youth in forming scientifically valid, cautiously-optimistic perceptions that empower action
• disseminate valid policy, planning and communication tools across academia, industry and government
  • stimulate long-term thinking beyond zero carbon and extinction goals to regenerate climate and biodiversity security
  • transfer knowledge between groups to deliver and manage regulatory solutions. 

New approaches to environmental policy development and assessment are vital to engage stakeholders and communicate achievement of benefits and gains. To generate positive climate action, our efforts must focus on qualifying, quantifying, and communicating positive gains beyond zero loss outcomes.

This platform session will explore how GCC interacts with environmental contaminants and biota. The session will consider papers on: 

1. The effects of GCC on the environmental fate and transport of contaminants.
2. The effects of climate change on contaminant bioavailability, bioaccumulation, and toxicity at all levels of biological scale. 
3. Integrating GCC model predictions with environmental fate and effects models and using them to improve ecological risk assessments.
4. Advancing ecological risk assessment paradigms to include climate change. 

This session will be actively promoted to students, early career scientists, and scientists from developing countries.

Having this clear (untreated and treated) wastewater focus, the session invites contributions on exposure modelling following contamination from municipal sources and indoor environments to the water cycle, on sampling strategies and chemical analytical approaches to detect complex mixtures of contaminants, transformation products and metabolites in wastewater and respective sources, on effect-based monitoring and toxicity profiling strategies, on innovative multivariate data evaluation strategies, on mixture risk assessment strategies for wastewater and on wastewater-based epidemiology and approaches to derive and exploit human exposure information from parent compounds and metabolites in the sewer system. Links of WBE to human biomonitoring studies are welcome. The session invites contributions on methodological innovations as well as conceptual advancement for the use of wastewater for holistic exposure and risk assessment together with case studies and large-scale investigations demonstrating these concepts and methods.

The session will cover:

• Molecular mechanisms of individual susceptibility to environmental chemicals with an aim at human health risk assessment. We will focus on NAMs and their applications to the identification of critical molecular targets, toxicity pathways, and candidate biomarkers that play important roles in determining individual susceptibility to adverse health outcomes and diseases after chemical exposure, with a focus on the differentiation between subjects exposed to a high dose of toxicants wherein some are apparently resistant to the environmental exposure while others have an increased susceptibility to developing a disease or other health risks
• Interactive health effects resulting from  the interplays between the co-existing environmental factors, e.g., diet, lifestyle, pharmaceuticals, chemical exposure, disease, etc., with a focus on establishing clear and causal linkages between in vitro molecule/pathway changes and in vivo adverse outcomes (AOs), individual and co-exposure effects, and toxicology and epidemiology data to inform enhanced susceptibility to health risks and diseases after the co-exposures
• Case studies on individual susceptibility to occupational toxicants and occupational health management using currently available toxicology and epidemiology data, since occupational exposures tend to be much greater than those experienced from the wider environment and a wide variety of occupational exposure data are available for addressing individual susceptibility of workers and preparing occupational exposure assessments in support of risk assessments

This session aims to provide a joint forum for presenting and discussing key aspects and challenges related to the development of integrated frameworks for chemical evaluation and environmental protection, including chemical substitution, monitoring, remediation and restoration projects and policies. We welcome contributions addressing methodological aspects related to, e.g., ERA and LCA methodologies, such as different data needs and uses, the connectivity between them, approaches for the evaluation for trade-offs and different models for linking species effects to loss of species diversity and/or genetic diversity and further to functional diversity and ES. Contributions to the topics of implementation of such criteria to help frame SPG across different sectors and legislative frameworks, including case-studies and recommendations for further developments, are welcome.

This session invites contributions on all aspects of predictive and probabilistic modelling of the exposure, fate and behaviour and biological impacts of chemicals and micro- or nanoscale particles of any composition in all environmental compartments, either as stand-alone models or as components of integrated assessment and testing approaches, integrating toxicogenomics, adverse outcome pathways and materials modelling approaches. Considerations on dataset organisation and curation for modelling, on benchmarking of models and their validation for use in regulatory risk assessment, and case studies related to grouping, read-across and risk assessment of particles and evaluation of model performance are highly welcomed.

Generally, applications of ecological models will ultimately improve our understanding of realism and usefulness of effect model predictions and help developing requirements for quality criteria and conditions for their use in regulatory risk assessment.  Therefore, for this session we invite studies on the state-of-art in effect modelling approaches (with a focus on TKTD and population models) and their application under different regulatory frameworks. Ecological effect modelling applications that increase the mechanistic understanding of ecotoxicological effects at different levels of biological organisation, for example mode of action analyses, extrapolation of individual effects to population levels, simulations of population dynamics under chemical or multiple stress, multi-species modelling approaches, or refinement of exposure and exploration of effects in landscape settings are particularly invited. Direct consideration of lasting questions and known areas of uncertainty in the traditional risk assessment paradigm, and how these are addressed by the studies presented, is highly recommended.

In this session we are looking for presentations on novel methods, test systems, risk assessment frameworks, hazard identification approaches, data analysis tools and risk characterization approaches. We particularly encourage contributions that integrate exposure and effects quantitatively. This session is open to studies concerned with any environmental compartment (soil, air, freshwater, marine), any biological system (taxa, populations or ecosystems) and all chemicals (incl. pesticides, biocides, substances that fall under REACH and substances that are not covered by current regulation). 

Abstract submitters are encouraged to highlight what specific advances to environmental risk assessment of chemicals their study contributes and how it moves beyond current standard practice.

The emergence and spread of drug-resistant pathogens that have acquired new resistance mechanisms continues to threaten our ability to treat common infections. Antibacterial resistance presents one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development today, with evidence of bacterial resistance being enriched following exposure to antimicrobial agents at environmentally relevant concentrations. Similarly, the environment harbours diverse fungal communities that can develop antifungal resistance following exposure to antifungal agents. Reservoirs of antimicrobials also have the potential to impact on agricultural productivity by disrupting plant- fungal and bacterial symbionts in soils. The emergence of antimicrobial resistant plant pathogens is also a pertinent threat to food security.

This is a cross cutting topic, so we therefore welcome abstracts on the risk of antimicrobials in the environment from across the disciplines of environmental microbiology, chemical fate, exposure and regulatory assessment, method development, modelling, environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology. This session will showcase the latest research developments to encourage the integration of the best available science and strategic approaches to managing antimicrobials in the environment. Interested parties are encouraged to present research and findings relevant to antimicrobials and their mixtures in any environmental compartment (e.g. aquatic, terrestrial, and biota) and at a multitude of scales (bench, micro/macrocosm, field, and landscape).

In order to establish environmental safety thresholds, information needs to be compiled from different disciplines to provide sufficient knowledge for a more accurate assessment of both environmental risk and life cycle impacts of CRM. The scope of this session covers all the aspects of biogeochemistry, environmental transport, speciation, environmental risk, bioavailability and ecotoxicology, and life cycle of CRM. We are particularly interested in in receiving contributions on the biogeochemistry, ecotoxicology, and life cycle assessment of CRM. Field studies determining environmental concentrations, controlled-lab experiments, field-based experiments and LCA modelling are all welcome.

This session will explore the most critical aspects of mixture risk assessment for real-life environmental and human chemical exposures, providing an overview of the scientific approaches that are currently being applied, or that might have an application in the future, to tackle this challenge. Approaches range from chemical analysis and sample preparation, to bioassays assessing molecular targets in the environment or in humans, to risk assessment of the single chemicals, to modelling approaches for predicting the mixture effects, and to the final trustworthy predictions of the risks to chemical mixture exposures.

This session will welcome submissions focused on: a) methodologies for chemical extraction, analysis and profiling of chemical mixtures from complex real-life samples, b) experimental and computational approaches for evaluation and prediction of mixture effects, c) ecotoxicological and/or human toxicological studies evaluating the long-term effect of exposure to chemical mixtures, and d) strategies for integrating mixture data into chemical risk assessment.

Intensified uses of marine systems require better understanding of the sensitivity of the wide range of marine phyla. Chemical characteristics and pollution patterns are evolving following the development of production processes, clean-up technologies and protective measures, and main challenges are nowadays related to the combined impacts of marine pollution and climate change. With industries moving offshore, including marine constructions for renewable energy and the blue economy, there is a need to consider how we manage the marine environment strategically and how we fill evidence gaps. New technologies raise new concerns e.g., there is widespread concern about the use of open loop scrubbers to reduce sulphur emissions to meet International Maritime Organization (IMO) obligations. 

A combination of risk-based assessments and monitoring including novel tools like e-DNA and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) is being applied to study the state of marine environments and their pressures, but we need to rethink strategic planning, assessment and monitoring. Current initiatives for ensuring transparent, pragmatic, and proportionate decision making, propose implementing common frameworks and published data that are freely available, allowing common understanding between stakeholders as a basis for collaborative approaches.  

This session will present studies that contribute to the shaping of a sustainable relationship between humans and marine ecosystems including the development of strategic ocean governance frameworks. It will explore methodologies to assess marine pollution, highlight examples of laboratory and field studies on marine contaminants and their biological effects, and focus on analyses of multi-stressor impacts. We strongly encourage presentation of interdisciplinary approaches that link to societal frameworks including regulation of chemical contamination and management of the marine environment.

In terms of composition, MR typically consists of blends of styrene-butadiene rubber, polybutadiene rubber and natural rubber compounded with carbon black, and numerous chemicals that fall within the chemical groups of PAHs, trace metals and anti-oxidants and that have been shown to leach from rubber tires and have established toxicity. From the viewpoint of environmental fate and analytical detection, MR presents additional challenges compared to MPs and therefore several marker compounds have been suggested to aid environmental sampling. Toxicologically, TWP and MR leachates have been shown to be toxic to a variety of aquatic organisms with some specific chemicals and/or chemical degradation products now being pinpointed as known toxic agents, e.g., 6PPD-quinone. Recent studies have focussed on distinguishing the impacts of particle and the leachate with several species ingesting TWP and the two fractions showing distinct adverse outcomes.

As a result, MR in all its forms can poses unique analytical and toxicological challenges, and research in this area is still in its infancy. Due to the complexity of the problem, the challenges are enormous and require a multidisciplinary approach. The aim of this session is to present and discuss studies that: (1) demonstrate the presence of TWP and other MR in the environment, (2) model the fate and behaviour of TWP and other MR, (3) investigate the ecotoxicological implications of these particles, (4) integrate knowledge from science, industry, NGOs and policymakers for better environmental decision-making, and (5) discuss mitigation strategies and innovations to foster the development of tires and roads that wear less and less toxic particles.

This session aims at answering the question: how are current and new Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data situated in relation to the FAIR data principles? For this, it welcomes contributions discussing the FAIR-ness of current LCI data as well as new (or developing) LCI data. Contributions can deal with advancements in inventory data collection and modeling, harmonization between LCI and LCIA, data validation, and data conversion across different systems. We encourage the authors to add a slide that explicitly discusses how the LCI data presented meet, or do not meet, the FAIR data principles, to stimulate the discussion around the FAIR-ness of LCI data during this session and beyond it.

This session aims to investigate how and to what extent LCA is used for decision-making, and how the LCA studies should be designed and communicated to be effective tools for decision-making. What kind of studies are used for decision-support in practice? What are the pros and cons of this practice? How does standardization assist in decision-support? We invite contributions addressing current strengths and limitations of LCA in this context. These include theoretical discussions and assessments of the methods from different perspectives, reviews of case studies and practices, and the experience from individual case studies that have been designed and/or used for actual decisions.

Optimised multiple-process synergies within a supply chain or a supply area are complex to assess and develop. Assessing multi-functional processes or systems is an important methodological challenge for LCA: international standards specify a hierarchy of approaches, but there is little definitive guidance for LCA practitioners to deal with the issue of multifunctionality to ensure a degree of consistency between studies but also to achieve relevance to the product/process systems being considered. Further, optimised strategies depend on various and multi-dimensional local and spatial factors that are not easy to identify and include in LCA, and may involve ad hoc technological solutions that are not covered in LCA databases. Overall, programming local or regional circularity and recycling strategies in LCA software is then made complex at all stages and uncertainties on the choices regarding the multi-criteria strategies may be large and hamper decision-making.  

This session aims to showcase current limits as well as possible solutions related to circularity and recycling aspects in LCA. It welcomes submissions related to methodological topics such as multiple-process and -scale integration, recycling strategies in specific sector modelling, the interpretation of results, the application in actual decision-making processes, current and future challenges.

In this context, we propose a session that aims at inviting abstracts on assessing the sustainability of resources issues in general and circular economy aspects in particular. Related life cycle impact assessment methods and case studies will be discussed in this session. The measurement of resource use and its efficiency, greenhouse gas reductions, circularity, bio-sourcing of materials, supply risk and resilience connected to LCA are in the focus of the session. Contributions on methodologies and case studies on biotic resources are welcome. In addition, discussions with methodologies of moving toward a more circular economy are wanted. We would like to encourage inputs that highlight the relevance of resource indicators for guiding the transition to a low carbon economy in sustainable way. Therefore, we accept also contributions covering the socio‐economic dimension of sustainability. 

In summary, the session includes contributions addressing the challenges related to the system analytical understanding and data‐driven measurement of the resilience, net zero transition, resource‐efficiency and circularity implications for multiple resources and materials such as metals, chemicals, minerals, plastics, wood, biobased chemicals, and nutrients. The session can be a basis for the discussion and generation of harmonized and accepted approaches to consider benefits of recycling and bio-sourcing of material in a life cycle approach accurately, including carbon capture and utilization, chemical and mechanical recycling, use of materials from recycling including biomass as pre-cursor. It explores ideas and practical experiences for implementing advanced methods with new or established impact assessment indicators within the overall transition to a net-zero society.

This session is supposed to provide a forum for the growing community of scientists working on non-standard LCA approaches to present their advancements, including the description of their experiences with new tools, the interpretation of results, or the application in actual decision making processes. Suitable proposals shall cover the role of specific approaches, their strengths and weaknesses, identify areas of potential improvement and make recommendations for further developments.

• Spatial differentiation of characterization factors for non-global impact categories in a non-standardised environment/world
• Consensus approaches for harmonisation of indicators for certain impact categories
• Footprint methods for specific product groups
• Improvement of impact methods, simplified as well as advanced modeling approaches
• Development and improvement of new or under-development methods such as biodiversity and ecosystem services
• Linking LCIA with other assessment frameworks such as risk assessment or the Global Burden of Disease
• Development of LCIA methodology linked to Planetary boundaries and Sustainable Development Goals
• Integrated interpretation of improved or new impact methods in full LCA studies
• Integration of new LCIA methods in software packages, including links with inventory

Pesticides contribute to reliable yields of many crop types. In Europe, however, some substances and/or their uses can no longer be authorised increasing the risk of resistance and reliance on the emergency route of authorisation. While the prevailing pesticides Regulation 1107/2009 seeks to drive innovation of effective yet environmentally benign molecules, development of new pesticides takes many years, and many of the new pesticides currently being developed are not coming to the European market due to business uncertainty of being able to meet the current and evolving European regulatory requirements.

The aim of this session is to explore what other options exist for pesticide risk assessment, moving beyond ‘standard’ higher tier refinements. We invite presentations on topics such as (but not limited to) the role of post registration monitoring (biological and chemical), integrated effect and exposure modelling, precision farming techniques, mitigation and/or remediation options, off-setting, protection goal setting, and cost benefit analysis. Presentations that include case studies illustrating how such approaches could be implemented into the pesticide authorisation process are particularly encouraged. We also encourage representatives from EFSA, the Commission or National Authorities to present their view on the future of higher tier pesticide risk assessments, particularly within the context of increased demand for crop production.

Biological crop protection solutions gather a rather wide range of products, from microorganisms to natural extracts and pheromones, and they are expected to expand to new categories of products as innovation goes forward. There is an ongoing debate about the relevance of existing risk assessment processes, developed for “conventional” chemical plant protection products, to adequately address specific aspects of biological products and their risk assessment. There is an increasing demand for adapted testing approaches that can better serve the profile of biological products while still ensuring their compliance with high safety standards. for environment and human health.

With this session, we would like to encourage the discussion around biological solutions, considering the diversity of categories included (from substances to microorganisms) and the need to have ready-to-use solutions in the shortest reasonable time.

Science accelerated the delivery of new purposes, both in term of biological solutions and novel tool to support risk assessment. Are all the purposes realistic? Was the applicability of solutions considered by researchers? Is the regulatory world ready to promptly evaluate and eventually acquire the new purposes? Are the Companies sufficiently informed to find the good reasons to invest on new purposes? Only an interactive debate can contribute to share different points of view and answer these questions.

Creating a nature-positive future requires positive messaging, measures, and metrics to guide, plan, assess and communicate regenerative development outcomes beyond toxicology, risk and damage assessment. Apart from scaling up effective efforts to reverse  climate-driven biodiversity viability loss, a nature-positive future needs science, investment, and targeted action to increase gains and reap extensive beneficial synergies. The session aims to clarify concepts, challenges, and approaches in modelling, measuring, and communicating gains in accelerating restoration and climate security through benefit assessment. Existing real-world, third-party certified case studies demonstrate how coupled benefit and damage assessment can assign damage and loss as negative debts and benefits as positive gains. This session will promote successful communication of net-positive environmental risk-benefit assessment outcomes that: 

• support policy, people and youth in forming scientifically valid, cautiously-optimistic perceptions that empower action
• disseminate valid policy, planning and communication tools across academia, industry and government
  • stimulate long-term thinking beyond zero carbon and extinction goals to regenerate climate and biodiversity security
  • transfer knowledge between groups to deliver and manage regulatory solutions. 

 
New approaches to environmental policy development and assessment are vital to engage stakeholders and communicate achievement of benefits and gains. To generate positive climate action, our efforts must focus on qualifying, quantifying, and communicating positive gains beyond zero loss outcomes.

Participants are encouraged to submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations that aim to improve science communication for an improved environmental decision-making.

Session plan:

1) Presentation of the session, chairs and aims.

2) Presentations covering the topics on Science Communication/Education and Indigenous Knowledge and Values that investigate the role of different stakeholders in scientific progress and describe community engagement strategies to improve risk communication. Different perspectives and experiences are appreciated to be shared during this session. Submissions can include case studies, field experiences, innovative tools and methods, communication and evaluation strategies that target different stakeholders like general public, students, workers, NGOs, scientists, policy makers, among others.

3) Interactive session including interacting questions and pools covering the hot topics highlighted by the abstracts submitted by participants. This represents 5-10 questions delivered to the audience using kahoot and other online live tools. Some examples of possible practical questions include:

A - Are we scientists actively engaging with communities to translate scientific knowledge in a productive and impactful manner?

B - What are the challenges and opportunities regardless community engagement in environmental sciences? 

C – Do we have models and examples to follow?

4) Session closing aims to deliver a wrap up of the session for examples by identifying the key challenges that would have a major impact on risk communication strategies.

Measurement of the actual effects on organisms posed by individual chemicals and mixtures of chemicals is critical to better understand the risk of exposure in the environment.  Current risks, assessed by standard ecotoxicology tests, undertaken in standard laboratory conditions, result in standardised assessment for chemicals.  The variable conditions in the environment cause significant deviation from the ecotoxicological threshold values used by regulators, due to habitat stressors, the presence of other chemicals, previous exposure to chemicals. This may result in actual threshold values different for each situation, meaning that regulation intended to protect may either be too protective or not protective enough.  Without information on the field scale sensitivities of species, Regulators cannot be expected to derive threshold values in the laboratory that protect real world floral and faunal populations from harm. This session aims to identify methods to protect the environment by understanding sub-lethal effects on individual organisms and acting before harm has occurred.

Solutions:

Effects-based monitoring frameworks that combine the use of analytical chemistry with in-vitro cell bioassays, metabolomics, RNA transcriptomics as well as in vivo whole organism tests, offer an integrative approach to broadly screen for chemical contaminants and link their presence with adverse effects on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. The use of effects-based monitoring is important to understand the effects of chemical mixtures in the environment.  This represents a shift from laboratory based standard assessments, to alternative environmental effects, species-based regulation.

What we want for the session:

The aim of this session is to offer a platform to scientists, regulators, and stakeholders for discussing developments in methods for evaluating environmental toxicity in the field. Topic areas for this session include use of novel methods; recent scientific advances, including characterization of microbial diversity, analytical techniques, genetic and metabolomic techniques, and methods to derive future standards based on observable effects. The session will not only address the status of the science but encourage identification of further research needs, and improvements to the understanding of environmental ecotoxicological thresholds. Tools based on effects of single chemicals and mixtures could be adopted in authorisation processes.

Successful sessions on the broader themes of veterinary pharmaceuticals were held previously in Rome and Sacramento etc. and this builds on an emerging issue and significant threat to waterways across the world. This session will focus specifically on the risk of companion animal vet meds.

In this session we encourage submissions focusing on the process from scientific development through to the implementation of NAMs to support decision making. We would also welcome presentations focusing on the use of NAMs beyond the like-for-like replacement of in vivo methods but rather as a part of a wide encompassing framework supporting safety decisions. Examples include: how NAMs can help to address weaknesses/uncertainties with in vivo testing; how NAMs can be tailored towards meeting protection goals; how mechanistic information gathered by NAMs may increase understanding of ecotoxicological Mode-of-Action and improve model building; and how NAMs-based data can be used in effect modelling, as well as benchmark comparisons between NAMs and historical in vivo data. We encourage diverse perspectives on where NAMs might be most quickly and effectively used across different contexts, such as screening and prioritisation of the “chemical universe”, for read-across or in-depth testing, hazard characterization and/or risk assessment. Finally, we would like to hear from end users (industry and / or regulators) regarding their views, experiences and requirements which should set the scene for allowing new co-developments and applications within this field of science.

Read-across and chemical grouping as examples of NAMs for supporting endpoint determination, are defined largely through structural similarity and physicochemical properties. However, the use of read-across in regulatory submissions has been met with varying levels of success, in part since the apparent structural similarity alone is not always sufficient to conclude on hazardous properties of the substances. Understanding differences in bioavailability and toxicokinetics (TK) of substances, for which in silico approaches are also available, is also important for read-across and hazard prediction.  

Nevertheless, a good understanding of Mode and/or Mechanism of Action linked to robust SAR, QSAR and QSPR can provide valuable and as yet not fully tapped opportunities to support safety decisions in the absence of in vivo studies, through grouping and read-across as well as direct endpoint determination.

Here we aim to stimulate discussion on the application of in silico NAMs for endpoint prediction and read-across/grouping approaches for regulatory submissions. We also encourage a discussion on how mechanistic insights derived from in silico approaches may provide benefits over empirically derived methods for endpoint prediction. Presentations on both chemical and biological predictive approaches are encouraged including Read-across, Mode and Mechanism of Action, SAR/ QSAR/ QSPR, structural alerts and chemical profiling developments as well as Molecular Initiating Events (MIEs) and Key Events (KEs) linked to AOPs. Case studies involving Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning, as well as understandings from the QSAR Assessment Framework and characterisation of uncertainties, are also encouraged.

In 2017, a scientific opinion was published by EFSA outlining the state of the science on soil risk assessment. A new EFSA guidance document for predicting environmental concentrations of pesticide active substances and their transformation products in soil was also published. The associated effects guidance is under development. 

One outcome is a new PECsoil calculator tool, PERSAM (PERsistence in Soil Analytical Model), and updates to PEARL and PELMO to support higher tier exposure assessments. The new soil exposure assessment scheme (comprising 4 tiers) generally appears to be more conservative than the current methodology for PECsoil calculation, leading to an increased soil risk assessment failure rate (Schimera et al. 2022). The soil characteristics used differ from those in effect studies, and questions remain regarding their use in a tiered soil risk assessment approach. 

It is foreseeable that more substances will require higher-tier refinement approaches to demonstrate low risks to soil organisms. The options available for refinement are currently limited, with the main option being field studies, which will increase in complexity on various levels (Römbke et al. 2020). 

In this session we encourage presentations that provide further options for refining soil risk assessments, either from an exposure and/or effects perspective, using experimental, modelling or other desk-based approaches. Presentations should include the refinement option and how it can be implemented in a tiered risk assessment, including consideration of factors such as endpoint selection and assessment factors (where appropriate). We also welcome case studies with real world data, allowing a calibration of theoretical estimates and ecological relevance. 

We aim to focus on the alignment of effect and exposure frameworks to enable a scientific sound risk assessment and evaluation of pesticides.

In this context, the high economic and negative social costs of animal testing have also pushed the inclusion of new approach methodologies (NAMs), which include a variety of in vitro and computational approaches, as fast and inexpensive solutions, compared to laboratory experiments, to screen thousands of compounds for their potential adverse effects on humans and environment. NAMs can therefore be easily applied to address different aspects of chemicals safety, from the identification of undesired chemicals, this is prior and after chemical synthesis and marketing, to the design of safe compounds through the SbD approach. Chemical safety can then be complemented by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC), and Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), possibly integrated in Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), to implement the safe and sustainable by design (SSbD) approach.

The aim of this session is to provide a forum to exchange and disseminate experiences, data and recent insights gained in relation to the application of strategies for the safe and sustainable design, use and management of chemicals, worldwide. Contributions can refer to traditional and emerging contaminants (including nanomaterials), and can describe the integration of multiple approaches and tools, to provide a panoramic view of possible solutions offered in different fields.

This session is a collaboration between the Association for the Advancement of Alternatives Assessment (A4) and SETAC Europe and will highlight international perspectives on the kind of data, methods, tools, and decision-approaches needed to inform both regulators and businesses in implementing strategies to accelerate the development and adoption of safer and more sustainable chemicals and materials. Discussion will focus on the different approaches for using AAs in North America, Europe, and/or elsewhere, and the importance of creating a common language between disciplines and between regions. Throughout the discussion, concrete examples of the types of data, tools, methods, and decision approaches needed to advance safe and sustainable chemicals (including how much information is needed to support informed decision-making) will be highlighted, as well as the barriers and gaps in obtaining and applying data and ways to address challenges in the future.

In accordance with the European Union Water Framework Directive, water quality standards for many metals are utilised to assess the status of waterbodies. Under the new Green Deal, there is now a growing interest to consider a more comprehensive assessment of the environment, including the sediment (as part of the waterbody) and also the soil. Regarding the latter, an EU Soil Strategy for 2030 is in development, which sets out a framework to protect and restore soils by 2050.

Important considerations for metals assessment in water, sediment and soil are the chemical interactions affecting ‘bioavailability’ and the natural ‘background’ levels present. There are numerous tools and methodologies for accounting bioavailability in the environment. For example, the ‘bio-met’ tool© and the Soil Threshold Calculator© both calculate site specific ecotoxicological threshold concentrations for a number of metals in the aquatic and soil environments, respectively. There is also a recently published Technical Guidance for implementing Environmental Quality Standards for metals in surface waters, which highlights the bio-met tool and also advises how to calculate the local natural background levels of metals in the waterbody.

However, broadening the scope of an environmental assessment for metals bring forward many challenges. In addition to having to develop relevant ecotoxicity databases in all environmental compartments, there is also the need to monitor a wider range of physico-chemical parameters and to determine the local natural background levels of metals. The restoration of metal contaminated soils can present unique challenges. The result will likely be an increase in both the cost and the complexity of implementing environmentally relevant, bioavailability-based standards, highlighting the importance of approaches that can focus that effort on those sites where it is genuinely required.

This session aims to showcase examples of scientific developments in our understanding of the fate and toxicity of metals being adopted into practical regulatory applications in any environmental media, and examples of their implementation in real environmental situations.

Soils are a significant focus, harbouring a huge share of biodiversity and carbon stocks, but being heavily under pressure and missing all targets to halt or reverse degradation trends. Soil pressures include diffuse chemical and point source contamination, but also e.g., unsustainable exploitation, and the climate crisis.  

Binding regulations for soils comparable to aquatic environments are underway, but already now soil monitoring data show that soil organisms have to cope with multiple exposures to a wide range of chemicals, concurrent with other stressors.  

The knowledge about the highly diverse field soils situation (e.g., multiple stressors, multiple sources, application schemes) challenge the appropriateness of current ecotoxicological test and risk assessment strategies. In our session, we warmly welcome contributions exploring if current short-term tests with single species and chemicals are fit for purpose and which novel approaches might better address the risks to soil biodiversity, soil services, and identify sustainable soil management practices. Integrative methodologies that enable the evaluation of system-based impacts are explicitly called for.  

Monitoring data are the basis to holistically evaluate soil state and trends. Very promising soil monitoring schemes are currently being developed and we greatly encourage to share even preliminary data. Such data will help to: i) advance upcoming monitoring campaigns by communicating changes and challenges; ii) identify substances of (emerging) concern; iii) define good and bad soil chemical and biological status; and iv) single out promising indicators for soil health.  

This session aims at getting the “soil loop” rolling, by discussing tools and strategies to better link realistic ecotoxicological assessment to accurate risk prediction, implement sustainable soil management and check its effectiveness in the field. This will feed back retrospective to prospective soil data, and allow following up on the advances in protection and restoration targets for soil health.

Risk is quantified as hazard multiplied by exposure by experts, yet these concepts can be perceived in different ways by different stakeholders. For example, a scientist who is well informed about emissions and physicochemical properties of a hazardous chemical may make judgments regarding risk based mainly on the severity and probability of its possible negative outcomes. In contrast to experts, psychological research shows that non-experts, like members of the public, reason about risks in different and often varied ways. This group incorporates different factors, such as equity (i.e., who will be most affected by the risk) into their judgments. It is of paramount importance to understand and predict how non-experts will react to risk, since the majority of this group are often not aware of the widespread usage of certain hazardous chemicals in everyday items. Thus, a deeper knowledge of perceptions and behaviour can inform policy and decision making as well as supporting successful risk management strategies. Yet in risk assessment, a lack of consideration is too often given to tools and approaches that probe risk perception and behaviours across different stakeholders. 

This session seeks contributions from industry, policy makers and academics where preventative measures have successfully been used to protect the environment and human health from harmful chemicals. We especially welcome case studies where psychological aspects have been considered, where management strategies have been implemented even in the presence of limited or conflicting evidence, and where effective risk communication tools have been used for diverse stakeholder groups.

The purpose of the session proposed for SETAC EU 2023 is a follow-up of the session in the previous years (2019, 2020 & 2021) with a more targeted focus on higher tier support, challenges for the future and additional data needs and compilation procedure.

The documents published by EFSA on higher tier support suggest that criteria and methodology for conducting and interpreting higher tier approaches for risk refinement are not always agreed among the relevant expert community (regulators, industry, contract laboratories and academia) while the GD contains topics which remain controversial and/or lack harmonization in interpretation among regulators (e.g., modelling). Presentations on complex semi-field or field studies to improve study design, refine ecological parameters, modelling and their use in regulatory risk assessments are welcome.

Significant efforts have been carried out in the last years mainly focussed on the compilation of data to improve the exposure and toxicity/effects components of the risk assessment but still in few cases surrogate data are used e.g., seed residues.

The main objectives of this session would be (1) to give stakeholders the opportunity to share results from recent studies and present approaches to improve scientific quality and regulatory acceptance of the EFSA B&M GD update, (2) to discuss novel approaches for undertaking and presenting higher tier support (3) to serve as a platform to develop further joint initiatives contributing to data development and compilation for inclusion in the current EFSA GD for B&M.

The broadening of experimental techniques for assessing biological and ecological ‘responses’ can generate huge amounts of potentially useful data for use in guideline derivation. However, these data do not always conform to standard methodologies or fit well with established frameworks for assessing their reliability and relevance. Types of data for which population or biological relevance, and resulting credibility, can be difficult to assess include histopathology (for organs and tissues), behaviour, and measures designed to indicate population or community level effects in the field. In addition, much new data is generated in academia using non-standard methodologies and species. While such studies may be publishable, they do not always meet the rigorous quality control and assurance standard that are necessary for regulatory reliance.

This session welcomes presentations that examine (1) the approaches and procedures required to allow the effective evaluation of such data for standard derivation; (2) approaches for the use of ecological effects observed from field and mesocosm studies either directly within guideline and criteria development or indirectly to evaluate the appropriate level of suitability of criteria, (3) practicality and efficiency of implementing increasing complex criteria; (4) how uncertainty in criteria/guideline development may be described in the context of implementation or monitoring metrics; and related issues. This session will cover all media that standards may be required for including waters, soils, sediments, and biota.

Moreover, acceptable testing methods for single NFs are often still missing, making similarity criteria even more challenging to address. Good progress in developing NF specific OECD standardised TGs and Guidance Documents (GD) applicable in a regulatory context are being made, but substantial further work is needed to develop a full set of suitable ERA methodologies. Recent research has increasingly focused on development of hazard and risk assessment frameworks for NFs i.e. new/adapted methodologies to reliably test NFs, modelling platforms installation, databases and alternative testing strategies. However, the challenge remains in transferring knowledge to regulatory acceptable methodologies. Presentations from data generated using or developing new OECD TGs/GDs or scientifically justified methodology for regulatory purpose are invited as well as modelling approaches.  Further, research and case-studies regarding the setting of boundaries for “sets of similar nanoforms” or concepts to move this or grouping forward are also invited. Approaches to aid regulatory compliance of regulations with REACH are welcome. This session aims to provide a transparent communication platform bringing scientists, regulators, policy makers and industry together to discuss scientific developments in the assessment of NFs.

We have a vastly improved understanding of the scale of the challenge with new approach methodologies, cheminformatics and effects-based methods. However, the size and pace of evidence acquisition leads to a significantly greater volume of data. Scientists have begun to apply grouping approaches to reduce risks of regrettable substitution and streamline the risk assessment process. Development of grouping and prioritisation approaches that follow the classic risk assessment paradigm to support the identification of potential chemical hazards and risks are essential. Identifying signals of most concern from the data is challenging. How do scientists, policy makers and regulators avoid analysis paralysis and focus on the most critical signals to take effective early action and prevent harm to the environment or human health? 

Environmental regulators need to be able to target their available resources in a timely and cost-effective manner to have the greatest impact in preventing further environmental degradation. This session aims to highlight novel approaches and applications to identifying emerging chemical priorities and chemical groupings for risk assessment and risk management. We invite contributions demonstrating approaches to collating, collecting, and generating evidence for chemical groups (or large numbers of substances) to understand and rank chemical hazards, exposures and potential risks. This may include non-animal approaches to hazard assessment, early warning system tools, computational frameworks and other agile and innovative solutions underpinned by sound science for horizon scanning to prioritise action on emerging chemical risks. We especially seek to highlight practical examples of how these tools and approaches can support policy development and environmental regulation in an evidence-led way.

This session will ask participants to present on the major new features of the revised EFSA Bee GD when compared with the 2013 draft version, as well as summarising research on new developments and innovative improvements in all fields of pollinator risk assessment and bee toxicology testing. Furthermore, it aims to highlight important communication between stakeholders as well as the public in response to the new EFSA Bee GD. Lastly also topics such as the exposure paradigm of solitary bees and bumble bees to pesticides, or how bee stressors other than pesticides can be considered. Similar to that, it will be of great interest to provide the community with an overview of the current state of play as well as further improvement options on the final EFSA Bee GD.

 The diversity of regulatory systems represents a challenge, but also an opportunity to learn from each other. This session aims to address the following key questions: (1) how can sentinel environmental monitoring of CECs from new products and materials identify unanticipated outcomes early from the production and use of new materials?; (2) How do we prioritise CECs for regulatory action?; (3) How can academic research in ecotoxicology and environmental health aid each other and support better regulation of CECs?; (4) How do we speed up the determination of safe levels of CECs in a rigorous way?; (5) What does and doesn’t work for CEC regulatory frameworks?; (6) How will global trends (e.g., global waste transport restrictions) affect the regulation of CECs in the future?; and (7) How can regulators and academia act with cohesion, despite the diversity of regulatory requirements? 

 This session will provide a critical review of regulatory frameworks designed to protect human health and the environment. We will consider if there are additional steps that need to be taken to strengthen existing frameworks, or enable adaptive management strategies to quickly identify and address CECs and prevent future environmental legacies. We welcome abstract submissions that examine new approaches to regulation, risk assessment, weight of evidence assessment, and decision-making frameworks for CECs. In particular, we seek case studies linking CES monitoring data and monitoring frameworks to early identification and regulation of potentially problematic CECs. We especially welcome science and industry perspectives on the refinement of regulatory decision making, and proposals to address these challenges by global initiatives. The session will conclude with a panel discussion.

The recent pandemic taught us that a scientist's responsibilities do not stop at reading papers, doing lab work, and developing models. In times of crisis, scientists are the Jedi of our Galaxy, the force politicians and the public count on to save the day. Yet, what help are these Jedi if they just talk in data riddles? Even in the absence of a humanitarian crisis, scientists are nowadays urged to communicate their research to an audience of various backgrounds to create an impact. But, how does this work in practice?

In this session we want to create a space to share stories of success and failure in communicating science. You managed to get your message across? Tell us how! Or maybe you tried to tell someone about your research, and the spark didn't fly over? How have you changed your approach on SciComm afterward? What did you learn from these setbacks? Tell the other SETAC members and us about it! Together we want to listen to each other's SciComm stories, discuss what could be improved in our communication, and celebrate the times, when we successfully communicated to our audience.

Of course, the possible ways to communicate your research are manifold and depend on your target audience. We are looking for examples ranging from conference presentations and newspaper articles over science slams and TikTok videos to the casual chat with your neighbour. We invite you to reduce the theory talk of your SciComm method to a minimum and focus on telling your story and your main takeaway in innovative ways.

Future visions being developed internationally and as part of the EU Green Deal Strategy aim to halt biodiversity loss and impacts on ecosystems, and to initiate restoration. Biodiversity is increasingly considered as an endpoint in environmental regulations. However, biodiversity measures are more complex than those for GHG emissions, as several drivers and impacts need to be considered; nature’s sensitivity and response differ as a function of stressor, location and scale. Although ecotoxicological measures can contribute to biodiversity indicators, integrated and holistic approaches such as the ones developed to address planetary boundaries for Phosphorous and Nitrogen cycles (Steffen et al., 2015) and more recently, chemical pollution and pesticide use, are still in development. There is an urgent need for holistic methods to support chemicals assessment and management for the “Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework” and EU Regulations.

This session welcomes presentations on tools and methods that would address biodiversity loss and gain. Topics include the integrated use of ecotoxicological tests, in situ measurements, and innovative ecological approaches such as blockchain and planetary boundary metrics which may lead to a profound transformation of our traditional methods. This session will also welcome examples of Nature-based Solutions developments and Science-Based Targets applications.

At the international level, the precautionary principle has been recognized and enshrined in several legal acts, including the Rio Declaration, the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Climate Convention (UNFCCC). At the EU level, the importance of applying the precautionary principle is also emphasized to uphold a high level of environmental protection (Art. 191 of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, TFEU), and the principle is explicitly expressed in most of the environmental Directives. 

There is a strong connection between the precautionary principle and the environmental forensics approach, where environmental forensics may be defined as “a new and multidisciplinary science which aims to apply scientific methods and knowledge to the diverse range of environmental concerns in the context of a regulatory and legal framework”.  

This connection is particularly evident for the ‘Shifting the burden of proof’ concept, a key element of the precautionary principle that is probably the most important one in relation to legal redress of environmental issues and consequently for environmental forensics.  

In this context, scientific data are used in a specific “field” of environmental decision-making.  

In this session, we intend to promote a fruitful discussion on the latest challenges and new directions in the following themes: 

• Environmental forensics; 
• Application of the precautionary principle in the investigation and redress of pollution cases; 

• Use of forensic science in biodiversity initiatives; 
• Forensic science solutions to environmental challenges; 
• Case studies which use environmental forensics linked to the precautionary principle. 

REFERENCES: 

Commission of the European Communities (COM), 2000. Communication from the Commission of 2 February 2000 on the precautionary principle.

The lack of clear criteria to select and assess alternative substances and SSbD processes leads to multiple challenges and open questions. For example, weighing hazard classifications like PBT or PMT criteria against ecotoxicological risks is not straight-forward and is hampered by a lack of exposure data and consistent comparison methodologies. Furthermore, it is unclear how and to what extent Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) criteria (e.g., carbon footprint, water use, land use, raw material use intensity, resource depletion and re-use) or wider sustainability aspects (economic, social) can be integrated into an assessment.  

The impacts of chemicals, materials and products are multifaceted and complex, and the development of such assessment tools would rely on interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder collaboration of a diverse set of disciplines like analytical, computational and environmental chemistry, human- and ecotoxicology, ecology, engineering, economy and social sciences. In this session, we aim to foster exchanges between these different communities working on risk assessment and life cycle assessment. 

Contributions that address the following questions are especially welcome: How can safety, sustainability and circularity be assessed during early design, when data availability is mostly poor? What are robust indicators of chemical impacts, which are acceptable boundaries, and what are the trade-offs between different impact categories? How can user-friendly tools for conducting integrated assessments that are transparent and accessible be developed? How can safety, sustainability and circularity assessments be weighed for decision-making? We particularly welcome practical examples where these issues are further elaborated, both from the environmental risk assessment and the LCA communities.

Recent progress in bioelectrochemical systems technology have led to several pilot-scale implementations and emerging of first, successful companies. These first examples offer their systems to treat industrial and domestic wastewater, as well as provide the solutions to the bioremediation of polluted areas. Nevertheless, in contrary to the conventional technologies such as today’s wastewater treatment facilities which have been established starting from 18^th century and developed later on, the BES technologies are not yet known within the society and stakeholders. Further implementation of BES into environmental practices, renewable energy and sustainable chemistry technologies requires bringing these new concepts outside of the specialized groups of interest. Namely, increasing the interaction with the environmental chemistry and toxicology experts.

The scope of the session will include various aspects of bioelectrochemical systems such as wastewater treatment, biodegradation, desalination and microbial electrosynthesis. In particular, the application-oriented and pilot studies are encouraged, but not limited to.

This session has an intentionally broad scope, covering environmental toxicology and chemistry, with the regional focus of Africa being the link across the topics. Progress towards assessing hot spots and hot moments of pollution and in smart (fast, low-cost and accurate) detection and quantification of chemicals, and assessment of their impacts through ecotoxicity testing on local invertebrate and plant species is welcome. Research can address any type of pollution, from legacy pollutants such as metals, agrichemicals and oil, or emerging concern such as pharmaceuticals including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), endocrine disrupting chemicals, flame retardants including PFAS, microplastics and their additives, nanomaterials and PAHs for example, or their mixtures. Research considering multiple stressors is welcome, as is research focussed on mitigation and remediation of chemical contamination. The session also aims to stimulate collaboration and cross-talk between African researchers and their European counterparts.

Humans are continuously exposed to new viruses and pollutants by different routes. WBE is an exploratory and complementary tool that overcomes some of the limitations of the more conventional human biomonitoring studies, such as sampling biases, long realization time, high costs, ethical issues, and complexity of data elaboration to extrapolate results to the whole population. Hence, it is now timely to build on the experience gathered and expand WBE to assess the public health status, including community exposure to pollutants, and promote action to protect our communities. The goal is to quantify risk factors, find exposure-outcome associations, and trigger policy, technological or societal intervention strategies with the overarching aim of exposure prevention and support for environmental and health policy-making in public health programs.   

Within this framework, the proposed session will explore the potential of WBE. We encourage submission from individuals with unique experiences, case-studies, method development research, lessons learnt from scientific communication during the pandemic and particularly welcome new strategies and applications to assess human exposure to chemicals and to collection of information on different patterns of factors related to human health. The session is open to contributions in the broadest concept from using environmental data to evaluate exposure and public health to existing and ongoing challenges heralded by the COVID-19 pandemic on the global scale. This session offers a unique opportunity for a lively discussion on WBEs future direction and potential application.

This session aims at better understanding and evaluating the environmental effects of precision applications by setting existing testing, modelling, risk assessment and regulatory approaches in the newly emerging context. In addition, novel and innovative test and modelling methods as well as tools and strategies towards including the precision application approaches in the regulatory context will be discussed. A closer look will be taken on how organisms, populations or communities in farmland are affected by a heterogenetic exposure due to precision application. In addition, a scientific discussion on new ways of exposure and effect modelling of precision applications is required to accompany the technological change and to start building consensus within the scientific community. Finally, we intend to discuss the results also in the context of risk assessment and management and its current procedures to be fit for the future.

SETAC is an accredited major groups stakeholder of UNEP (Scientific and Technical Community) and is participating in activities connected to the ad-hoc OEWG science policy panel for the continued sound management of chemicals, waste and pollution prevention.  SETAC has also established an Advisory Panel on Chemicals Management (CheM) to lead on these activities for the society. A recent article in the Globe explains SETAC’s engagement and the story so far https://globe.setac.org/unep-ad-hoc-open-ended-working-group-science-policy-panel-to-contribute-to-the-management-of-chemicals-waste-and-pollution-prevention/. The ad-hoc OEWG process started on the 6^th October 2022 and will end by Q3 2024. Within this timeframe, there will be three meetings (1.1 October 2022 and 1.2 January 2023, 2.0 October 2023 and 3.0 early Q3 2024).

Engaging in the ad-hoc OEWG process and ensuring the most robust science is utilized is a strategic priority of SETAC, towards which the entire membership can contribute. The proposed Special Session will be the first opportunity for engagement with the SETAC membership on this important topic, and the discussion undertaken during the Special Session is key to navigating through this process. In addition to the European Special Session, events will also be held in Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America and North America in 2023. During the European Special Session, UNEP’s processes for developing the science-policy panel will be explained, as well as how SETAC members can contribute their scientific expertise to the process through SETAC’s participation. The ad-hoc OEWG’s first tasks are to determine the key definitions, remit and scope of the science-policy panel. During the Special Session, the decisions already made by the ad-hoc OEWG will be explored, and the priority topics of concern, as identified by SETAC members, their implications, and potential future risks will be discussed, as well as adaption and mitigation recommendations. All the information generated through the Special Session will be collated and shared with UNEP and all other actors in the process.

Prior to the Special Session, a survey of SETAC members will be undertaken, which will be used to inform the discussion that will take place during the Special Session. The survey will be the foundation of a preliminary consultation of the SETAC membership on priority themes, which will enable SETAC to provide structured input and feedback to the process. Following the survey, the survey responses will be analyzed, and the results will be used to frame the Special Session, which will involve presenting the results, and undertaking a deeper exploration of the questions and results through discussion with an invited panel and audience.

Strengthening the science to policy interface is one of the key strategic goals of SETAC Europe, which is why the organisation became a member of the High Level Roundtable for the implementation of the CSS in 2021, and the CSS Special Sessions feed into that process, by fostering a communication channel with the society’s membership. Since 2020, the Special Session’s focus and discussion has fed-forward from the previous year’s event. For 2023, it is proposed that the Special Session will again move the conversation forward and address several key questions, which were identified through the 2022 discussion:

1. How do we avoid misuse of the phrase ‘science-based’, what does it mean, is all data useful data, and what level of information is sufficient to make informed decisions”?
2. Multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary solutions are called for, but how do we (as SETAC members and stakeholders) facilitate and achieve truly effective collaborations between different disciplines involved in the design, production, and assessment of chemicals, on what topics, and to what end?
3. Which elements should be included in a modernised chemicals risk and alternatives assessment processes appropriate for the CSS’s stated goals? How to prioritise the investment of efforts between high-throughput hazard screening using ‘simplified’ NAMs-based approaches, and the more holistic, spatially and temporally resolved analyses needed to assess ecological effects of chemical mixtures in the environment? What are the CSS’s key science-data gaps to both inform decisions on chemicals and shape future chemicals that are Safe and Sustainable by Design?
4. What are the CSS’s key science-data gaps to both inform decisions on chemicals and shape future chemicals that are Safe and Sustainable by Design?

SETAC is an accredited major groups stakeholder of UNEP (Scientific and Technical Community) and is participating in activities connected to the ad-hoc OEWG science policy panel for the continued sound management of chemicals, waste and pollution prevention. SETAC has also established an Advisory Panel on Chemicals Management (CheM) to lead on these activities for the society. A recent article in the Globe explains SETAC’s engagement and the story so far https://globe.setac.org/unep-ad-hoc-open-ended-working-group-science-policy-panel-to-contribute-to-the-management-of-chemicals-waste-and-pollution-prevention/. The ad-hoc OEWG process started on the 6^th October 2022 and will end by Q3 2024. Within this timeframe, there will be three meetings (1.1 October 2022 and 1.2 January 2023, 2.0 October 2023 and 3.0 early Q3 2024).

Engaging in the ad-hoc OEWG process and ensuring the most robust science is utilized is a strategic priority of SETAC, towards which the entire membership can contribute. The proposed Special Session will be the first opportunity for engagement with the SETAC membership on this important topic, and the discussion undertaken during the Special Session is key to navigating through this process. In addition to the European Special Session, events will also be held in Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America and North America in 2023. During the European Special Session, UNEP’s processes for developing the science-policy panel will be explained, as well as how SETAC members can contribute their scientific expertise to the process through SETAC’s participation. The ad-hoc OEWG’s first tasks are to determine the key definitions, remit and scope of the science-policy panel. During the Special Session, the decisions already made by the ad-hoc OEWG will be explored, and the priority topics of concern, as identified by SETAC members, their implications, and potential future risks will be discussed, as well as adaption and mitigation recommendations. All the information generated through the Special Session will be collated and shared with UNEP and all other actors in the process.

Prior to the Special Session, a survey of SETAC members will be undertaken, which will be used to inform the discussion that will take place during the Special Session. The survey will be the foundation of a preliminary consultation of the SETAC membership on priority themes, which will enable SETAC to provide structured input and feedback to the process. Following the survey, the survey responses will be analyzed, and the results will be used to frame the Special Session, which will involve presenting the results, and undertaking a deeper exploration of the questions and results through discussion with an invited panel and audience.

Strengthening the science to policy interface is one of the key strategic goals of SETAC Europe, which is why the organisation became a member of the High Level Roundtable for the implementation of the CSS in 2021, and the CSS Special Sessions feed into that process, by fostering a communication channel with the society’s membership. Since 2020, the Special Session’s focus and discussion has fed-forward from the previous year’s event. For 2023, it is proposed that the Special Session will again move the conversation forward and address several key questions, which were identified through the 2022 discussion:

1. How do we avoid misuse of the phrase ‘science-based’, what does it mean, is all data useful data, and what level of information is sufficient to make informed decisions”?
2. Multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary solutions are called for, but how do we (as SETAC members and stakeholders) facilitate and achieve truly effective collaborations between different disciplines involved in the design, production, and assessment of chemicals, on what topics, and to what end?
3. Which elements should be included in a modernised chemicals risk and alternatives assessment processes appropriate for the CSS’s stated goals? How to prioritise the investment of efforts between high-throughput hazard screening using ‘simplified’ NAMs-based approaches, and the more holistic, spatially and temporally resolved analyses needed to assess ecological effects of chemical mixtures in the environment? What are the CSS’s key science-data gaps to both inform decisions on chemicals and shape future chemicals that are Safe and Sustainable by Design?
4. What are the CSS’s key science-data gaps to both inform decisions on chemicals and shape future chemicals that are Safe and Sustainable by Design?