Priority setting for existing chemicals: European union risk ranking method

In order to provide a legal framework within the European Union (EU) for the evaluation of existing chemicals (i.e., substances listed in the European Inventory of Existing Commercial Substances), Council Regulation (EEC) 793/93 was adopted, in which the evaluation of the existing chemicals is carried out by four steps, namely data collection, priority setting, risk assessment, and, if necessary, risk reduction. To fulfill the priority-setting step the EU Risk Ranking Method (EURAM) was developed to produce rankings that are the basis for drawing up lists of substances, used for priority setting, among the so-called high production volume chemicals appearing in the International Uniform Chemical Information database. The EURAM ranks substances on the basis of their potential risk to humans and the environment by using a simple exposure-effect model, containing both human health and environmental effect endpoints as well as exposure parameters. The EURAM fulfills criteria for a good chemical ranking scheme and has been applied and used as a basis for selecting substances for the second and the third list of priority substances as foreseen under Council Regulation (EEC) 793/93.