The EU chemicals strategy for sustainability: an opportunity to develop new approaches for hazard and risk assessment

The EU chemicals strategy for sustainability (CSS) (EC 2020b) sets policy goals regarding future ambitions for the safe use and management of chemicals and aims at "chemicals [to be] used more safely and sustainably, promoting that chemicals having a chronic effect for human health and the environment-substances of concern-are minimised and substituted as far as possible, and phasing out the most harmful ones for non-essential societal use, in particular in consumer products".To achieve this goal, the EU chemicals strategy lists several areas requiring future actions with potential consequences on procedures of chemical regulations currently in place.The CSS is motivated by public concerns and scientific findings regarding the potential adverse impacts of chemicals on the environment and human health.It has been intensively discussed within the scientific community.In many reviews, the CSS received positive feedback regarding its goals and ambitions.For instance, the CSS was considered as "the first regional framework aiming to address chemical pollution in a holistic manner" (van Dijk et al. 2021) or it was appreciated that "prevention and reduction of pollution [was] on the same political level as the protection of climate and biodiversity" (Conrad et al. 2021).However, certain aspects of the CSS were more critically commented,