Public consultation on the SCCP/SCHER/SCENIHR preliminary report on the
"Use of the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) Approach for the Safety Assessment of Chemical Substances"

The Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) approach is a risk assessment tool that is based on the principle of establishing a human exposure threshold value for chemicals, below which there is a very low probability of adverse effects to human health. According to this approach, a safe level of exposure can be identified for many chemicals based on their chemical structure and the known toxicity of chemicals which share similar structural characteristics.

The European Commission has requested that the Scientific Committees on Consumer Products (SCCP), Health and Environment (SCHER) and Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) prepare an opinion on the use of the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) Approach for the Safety Assessment of Chemical Substances.

The SCCP/SCHER/SCENIHR have approved a preliminary report on this issue, which can be found here.

Interested parties are invited to send their comments on the preliminary opinion via the following website

A document with Guidelines for submission of contributions, containing criteria for the public consultation and guidance for submission can be found here

Deadline for the submission of comments: 2 January 2009

Please note that comments received after the deadline CANNOT be taken into account

Please note that comments which do not relate to the scope of this public consultation or do not comply with the criteria for these public consultations will not be considered.

More information on the Scientific Committees of the European Commission can be found here.

This consultation is in line with the procedures for stakeholder dialogue published on 15 September 2007 by the European Commission's Directorate General for Health and Consumers.