Exposure assessments under REACH often need many stakeholders to work together, including registrants who are commercial competitors and so need confidentiality. Registrants and downstream users must jointly report data on uses and tonnages across a substance’s whole lifecycle. Large numbers of participants, complex supply chains and a shortage of exposure experts, particularly among downstream users, make these assessments difficult and their results less reliable.
This poster examines those challenges and proposes four practical actions:
Promote exposure assessment expertise through university programmes, such as dedicated Master’s degrees, and by raising the profile of exposure science as a career.
Strengthen training and capacity through continuing professional development, professional networks and mentoring, and initiatives such as ISES Europe certification.
Use well-designed surveys with standardised templates and early stakeholder engagement to improve the quality and sharing of data on uses.
Run targeted exposure measurement campaigns focused on priority gaps, using robust methods and quality checks, with confidential, pre-competitive data sharing to refine models and exposure scenarios.
Together, reliable data and expertise lead to more appropriate risk assessment and better protection of human health and the environment.
Authors
Audric Mathuren, Larry Higgins, Adrian Tristram, Cécile Moreau, Maryam Zare Jeddi, Oliver Henschel, Albania Grosso
ISES Europe 2026, Poster 33 (Occupational Exposure and Health), Abstract ID 92.