Toxicology and Chemical Substances

The Toxicology and Chemical Substances (TCS) that is the focal point for data and the assessment procedure on dangerous chemicals within the European Union. It is located in Ispra, Italy.

  The TCS is under the responsibility of the Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission.

The Toxicology and Chemical Substances (TCS) is commonly known as European Chemicals Bureau (ECB), which was its former name.

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Mission

The mission of the TCS is to provide scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU policies related to dangerous chemicals. It co-ordinates the EU risk assessment programmes covering the risks posed by existing substances and new substances to workers, consumers and the environment. It supports the legal classification and labelling, the notification of new substances, the information exchange on import and export of dangerous substances, the development and harmonisation of testing methods and the authorisation of biocides.

Biocides

The Biocides Work Area provides scientific and technical support for the approval of active substances in biocidal products as laid down in Directive 98/8/EC concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market.

Existing Chemicals

The Existing Chemicals Work Area provides technical and scientific support to the Commission concerning the:

• Data Collection
• Priority Setting
• Risk Assessment

steps of Council Regulation (EEC) 793/93.

New Chemicals

The Biocides Work Area provides scientific and technical support for the approval of active substances in biocidal products as laid down in Directive 98/8/EC concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market. The principal function of the New Chemicals work area include:

• Co-ordination of EU notification scheme and risk assessment for new chemical substances (Directive 67/548/EEC including Annexes VII and VIII, Directive 93/67/EEC).
• Management of the New Chemicals Database (NCD) maintained in a security area with authorised access only.
• Preparation of European LIst of Notified Chemical Substances (ELINCS).
• Supervision of Technical and Scientific Meetings (TSMs) and Working Group Meetings allowing Member State Competent Authorities to discuss issues arising related to implementation of Directives.

ESIS: European chemical Substances Information System

ESIS is an IT System which provides you with information on chemicals, related to:

• EINECS (European Inventory of Existing Commercial chemical Substances),
  
• ELINCS (European List of Notified Chemical Substances) in support of Directive 92/32/EEC, the 7th amendment to Directive 67/548/EEC,
  
• NLP (No-Longer Polymers),
  
• PBT (Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic) or vPvB (very Persistent and very Bioaccumulative),
  
• BPD (Biocidal Products Directive) active substances listed on Annex I or IA of Directive 98/8/EC,
  
• HPVCs (High Production Volume Chemicals) and LPVCs (Low Production Volume Chemicals), including EU Producers/Importers lists,
  
• C&L (Classification and Labelling), substances or preparations in accordance with Directive 67/548/EEC (substances) and 1999/45/EC (preparations),
  
• IUCLID Chemical Data Sheets, IUCLID Export Files, OECD-IUCLID Export Files, EUSES Export Files,
  
• Priority Lists, Risk Assessment process and tracking system in relation to Council Regulation (EEC) 793/93 also known as Existing Substances Regulation (ESR).
  

EQS: Environmental Quality Standard

ECB Website

• TCS/ECB: European Chemicals Bureau
• TCS/ECB: Biocides
• TCS/ECB: Classification & Labelling
• TCS/ECB: Computational Toxicology
• TCS/ECB: Existing Substances
• TCS/ECB: New Substances
• TCS/ECB: ESIS (European chemical Substances Information System)

See also

• REACH
• IUCLID