Rockin' Around The Decision Trees

Advanced materials (AdMa) represent one of the current challenges for human and ecotoxicological risk assessment. Their extreme complexity, due to heterogeneous composition, enhanced and emerging properties, make the application of case-by-case risk assessment strategies unrealistic. At the same time a shift of paradigm in chemical safety assessment is pushing towards the development and adoption of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), preferably based on use of non-animal methods.
Grouping and read-across represent promising strategies that can be applied for hazard assessment of AdMa in order to account for material complexity while supporting the prioritization of non-animal approaches. These concepts are based on the application of decision trees accounting for material physicochemical properties, specific fate and hazard descriptors.
Even if stronger evidence is required for their acceptance in a regulatory context, the implementation grouping and read-across at early innovation stages of product development could support the decision making process towards the choice of safer alternatives.