Hazard identification and characterization of leachable chemicals from plastic products – a new PARC project

A recent study has suggested that plastics may contain more than 16,000 chemicals, including additives, processing aids, starting substances, intermediates and Non-Intentionally Added Substances. Plastic chemicals are released throughout the plastic life cycle, from production, use, disposal and recycling. Most of these chemicals have not been studied for potential hazardous properties for humans and in the environment. To refine the risk assessment of these leachable chemicals, additional hazard data are needed. The PlasticLeach project within the EU co-funded Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) aims to address this data gap by screening several plastic products in daily use. Leachates will be prepared from a number of these plastic items, and these chemical mixtures will be further tested using several test guideline compliant assays and New Approach Methodologies covering both human health and environmental endpoints. The most toxic leachates will be characterized using a non-targeted analysis pipeline to identify chemicals in the leachate. When single chemicals of concern are identified, these will be further tested to determine hazardous properties and identify the respective potency factors to better understand their specific hazard profiles. A tiered approach for hazard testing will be followed. The experimental work will be complemented by <i>in silico</i> toxicological profiling, using publicly available toxicity databases and tools, including Artificial Intelligence tools that cover both human and environmental endpoints. A comprehensive array of endpoints, including cytotoxicity, endocrine disruption, genotoxicity, immunotoxicity, reproductive toxicity and effects related to ecotoxicity will be evaluated. In this paper, we outline the plastic products to be tested and the battery of assays that will be used to identify hazards relevant to both human health and the environment. Data generated from <i>in silico</i>, <i>in vitro</i>, and <i>in vivo</i> approaches will be reported using standardized formats, stored within a centralized repository, and harmonized to adhere to the FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). This integrated strategy will not only advance our understanding of the risks associated with plastic-derived chemicals but will also provide critical support for regulatory decision-making and facilitate the development of safer, and more ecofriendly plastic materials in the future.

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Journal
Frontiers in Toxicology
Published
2025-11-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/ftox.2025.1719035
Primary Topic
Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Hazard identification and characterization of leachable chemicals from plastic products – a new PARC project

Evangelia N. Tzanetou, Eirini Papadopoulou, Laurent Gaté, Célia Ventura et al.
Frontiers in Toxicology
Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals
article

Hazard identification and characterization of leachable chemicals from plastic products – a new PARC project

Evangelia N. Tzanetou, Eirini Papadopoulou, Laurent Gaté, Célia Ventura, Susana Loureiro, Hans Bouwmeester, Bojana Žegura, Hubert Dirven, Young Jun Kim, Guillermo Repetto, Daniela Flores-Gomez, Igor Snapkov, Youngsam Kim, Marija Sollner Dolenc, Ana Tavares, Dorte Herzke, Konstantinos A. Aliferis, Aleksandra Bogusz, Guillaume Duflos, Henriqueta Louro, Radosław Walkowiak, Anastasia Spyropoulou, Gunnar Sundstøl Eriksen, Walter Zobl, Martina Štampar, Catarina Malheiro, Jorke H. Kamstra, Margarida Fardilha, Kyriaki Machera, Yves Guichard, Gilles Rivière, Knut Erik Tollefsen, Raymond Pieters, Anita Solhaug, Chang Seon Ryu, Nina Franko, Konstantinos M. Kasiotis, Tim Ravnjak, Maria João Silva, Sunmi Kim, Mathias Busch, Elise van der Koogh
article en

Abstract

A recent study has suggested that plastics may contain more than 16,000 chemicals, including additives, processing aids, starting substances, intermediates and Non-Intentionally Added Substances. Plastic chemicals are released throughout the plastic life cycle, from production, use, disposal and recycling. Most of these chemicals have not been studied for potential hazardous properties for humans and in the environment. To refine the risk assessment of these leachable chemicals, additional hazard data are needed. The PlasticLeach project within the EU co-funded Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) aims to address this data gap by screening several plastic products in daily use. Leachates will be prepared from a number of these plastic items, and these chemical mixtures will be further tested using several test guideline compliant assays and New Approach Methodologies covering both human health and environmental endpoints. The most toxic leachates will be characterized using a non-targeted analysis pipeline to identify chemicals in the leachate. When single chemicals of concern are identified, these will be further tested to determine hazardous properties and identify the respective potency factors to better understand their specific hazard profiles. A tiered approach for hazard testing will be followed. The experimental work will be complemented by <i>in silico</i> toxicological profiling, using publicly available toxicity databases and tools, including Artificial Intelligence tools that cover both human and environmental endpoints. A comprehensive array of endpoints, including cytotoxicity, endocrine disruption, genotoxicity, immunotoxicity, reproductive toxicity and effects related to ecotoxicity will be evaluated. In this paper, we outline the plastic products to be tested and the battery of assays that will be used to identify hazards relevant to both human health and the environment. Data generated from <i>in silico</i>, <i>in vitro</i>, and <i>in vivo</i> approaches will be reported using standardized formats, stored within a centralized repository, and harmonized to adhere to the FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). This integrated strategy will not only advance our understanding of the risks associated with plastic-derived chemicals but will also provide critical support for regulatory decision-making and facilitate the development of safer, and more ecofriendly plastic materials in the future.

Frontiers in ToxicologyVol. 7
Agricultural University of Athens (GR), Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NO), Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NO), University of Ljubljana (SI), Institute of Chemical Technology (IN), Utrecht University (NL), Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NO), KIST Europe (DE), Institute of Environmental Protection (PL), Benaki Phytopathological Institute (GR), Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l’Alimentation, de l’Environnement et du Travail (FR), National Institute of Biology (SI), National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (PT), Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KR), Norwegian Veterinary Institute (NO), McGill University (CA), University of Aveiro (PT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (PT), Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité (FR), Wageningen University & Research (NL), Universidad Pablo de Olavide (ES)
European Food Safety Authority
Openalex Percentile: Top 54%
Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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