The principal themes of the academic programme of the Congress are: Household product safety; Aerotoxic syndrome; e-cigarettes – the good, the bad and the ugly; Toxic aspects of ammunition; Clinical toxicology of cannabis and cannabinoids; Current challenges of opioids; Advances in critical care of poisoned patients: imaging and treatment; Risk communication - detection, assessment, management and communication of risk in mass human toxic exposures. Interspersed within these will be panel discussions, pro-con debates, and also sessions for discussing recent papers and publications.

With the move in the EU Regulatory Environment to animal testing being the action of last resort, this is sure to be an informative event and an area of interest for everyone involved in chemicals, biocides or agrochemical registration. Topics include an overview of alternative test methods, skin and eye irritation, skin sensitisation, carcinogenicity and mutagenicity, in silico methods and future moves to further replace animals in regulatory testing.

The field of occupational toxicology covers the use of chemicals in a workplace setting and includes the study of both raw materials and process emissions as possible hazards to human health. Work-related exposures are studied by use of inhalation and skin exposure monitoring as well as biomarkers of exposure, susceptibility and effect, usually as part of epidemiological exposures. Results of such studies and also from experimental exposure studies contribute to the setting of workplace standards to prevent work-related intoxications and occupational disease. See course flyer.

REACH EU regulation was adopted to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals, while enhancing the competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry. It also promotes alternative methods for the hazard assessment of substances in order to reduce the number of tests on animals. In this context, this training intends to discuss in depth case studies using in silico tools in order to perform hazard/risk assessment fit for REACH dossiers.

Every day, we are exposed to a mixture of substances via food, the air and our skin. Much progress has been made in developing methods for assessing the risk to public health of such exposure to multiple chemicals. EFSA and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) will hold a symposium that aims to present and discuss the state of the art of such methods. It will focus on the following topics: The state of play regarding implementation of cumulative risk assessment of pesticides in Europe. Enhancing knowledge on efficient toxicity testing of chemical mixtures while reducing animal testing. How new testing technology will improve understanding of mixture toxicity and human risk assessment.

The aim of the meeting is to gather researchers and scientists interested or working in the fields of experimental pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, clinical, experimental or regulatory toxicology, or in pharmaceutical medicine. Each discipline will present the opportunities and perspectives in their fields. In this context we also aim to encourage and foster the contacts between the academic, clinical and industrial sector. Another benefit of the meeting is that it provides to our younger members the possibility for contacts in order to help them preparing their career plans in the academic, clinical, industrial or other fields.

The conference will highlight successful applications and newest developments in the key areas of 3D cell culture. During the main conference (19 - 21 April 2016) success stories of 3D culture applications will be presented as well as newest technologies and innovations. Relevant disease models, applications of 3D models in clinic and industry, predictive cell models for compound characterization and enabling technologies will be covered. Pre-conference workshops on 18 April will address special topics and technologies in more detail.

Unternehmen, welche mit Nanomaterialien arbeiten, müssen die Sicherheit ihrer Produkte mittels einer Selbstkontrolle belegen. Doch wie kann das Risiko von Nanomaterialien eingeschätzt werden? Welche Werkzeuge und Methoden sind verfügbar und wie kann die Selbstkontrolle gegenüber Behörden überzeugend dargelegt werden? Das Seminar richtet sich an Fachpersonen und Sicherheitsverantwortliche aus Betrieben, welche Nanomaterialien herstellen oder diese in ihren Produkten verwenden. Weiter sind kantonale Behörden angesprochen, welche für den Vollzug der Selbstkontrolle verantwortlich sind.