The final report of the OECD project led by ECHA on the role of robust research abstracts in chemical hazard assessment was found to be in line with the objectives. It also identified some areas for improvement to further enhance its credibility and practicality.

Helsinki, May 2, 2023- ECHA collaborated with the OECD to conduct a project to evaluate the role of robust research abstract concepts. The purpose is to verify whether they are sufficient for conducting a hazard assessment and identify potential areas for improvement.

The final report of the project found that reliable research abstracts provide reliable information for hazard assessment. Since there is no need to review complete research reports, evaluation becomes more effective. The OECD unified template provides a standard format for robust research summaries and helps to improve their consistency.

In order to further improve their quality, practicality, and accuracy, this study suggests:

Implement a sound research summary review process;

Provide training and manuals to write reliable research summaries;

Continue to develop validation rules.

The results of this study will serve as the basis for future priority improvement actions.


background

A reliable research summary is a detailed summary of the objectives, methods, results, and conclusions of a complete research report. The goal is to minimize the need to access complete research reports, thereby improving evaluation efficiency.


The OECD has developed a unified template for reporting information related to chemical risk assessment. These templates are implemented in IUCLID, a software application used to record, store, maintain, and exchange data related to the inherent and hazardous characteristics of chemical substances.

The project is divided into three work packages. The first report was released in April 2022, collecting user opinions and suggestions collected through surveys and a series of interviews. The second stage analyzed the quality and accuracy of a series of reliable research summaries. The research results were published in March 2023.


The report for this project was commissioned by ECHA, provided by Yordas Group, and reviewed by the OECD Steering Committee.