The science of combining apples and oranges: Joint EFSA/EBTC scientific colloquium on evidence integration in risk assessment

Leading scientists took part in a joint EFSA/EBTC scientific colloquium to explore future directions for evidence integration in human risk assessment of chemicals. The 82 participants, from 19 countries, brought a diversity of experience, methodological approaches and practical expertise to the lively discussions.

EFSA’s Didier Verloo co-chaired the meeting. He said: “We were lucky to have here some major game-changers and leading minds from the relatively small but hugely impactful world of risk assessment methodologies.

“We focused on key themes in our practice of evidence integration – from our use of various applications to adapting different methods and frameworks. The deepening pool of approaches is allowing assessors to better use all of the available evidence in an assessment quantitatively and qualitatively, taking account of bias, overall uncertainty and sensitivity, for example.”

Co-Chair Katya Tsaioun, of EBTC at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, added: “Recognising where we are now helped to set the scene and to map out themes in our future directions. We underlined the importance of standardised terminology and concepts, learning and testing, training and the need for practice. But the assessment community needs to communicate and share its approaches, refining them along the way.”

The opening and closing plenary sessions were webstreamed live. A recording is available below: