SILIFOOD: a tool to support the risk assessment of non-evaluated food contact material substances

• Automatic regulatory and toxicological data collection from different sources • Integration of VEGA (Q)SAR models to predict toxicological hazard • Existing and predicted toxicological data combined in one report • A tool to aid the safety assessment of food contact material (FCM) substances The SILIFOOD tool was created to support the safety assessment of food contact material (FCM) substances. By combining the retrieval of existing toxicological data with (quantitative) structure-activity relationship [(Q)SAR] predictions, the tool is particularly relevant for FCM substances with limited or no toxicological data like non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) and substances migrating from non-plastic FCM. Existing databases and lists of substances containing toxicological information were identified and curated. In addition to an in-house database with FCM-related information, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) OpenFoodTox database, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) lists of evaluated substances as well as lists of compounds with toxicological concerns were chosen. (Q)SAR models predicting toxicological endpoints relevant for FCM were selected from VEGAHUB. The endpoints of interest were bioavailability/bioaccumulation potential, genotoxicity, carcinogenicity, developmental and reproductive toxicity, and sub-chronic toxicity. Moreover, models for endocrine activity and Cramer class identification were included. Next, a stand-alone and publicly available software was developed to automatically collect information from the selected lists and databases and to combine them with (Q)SAR predictions. The SILIFOOD tool, developed specifically for single organic FCM substances, was evaluated using case studies.