Our work
Biocides are designed to kill micro-organisms and vermin. It is bibra's role to assess the risks of their collateral damage. It is important that their use does not present an unacceptable risk to potentially-exposed humans and other non-target animals, or to the environment.
A high-quality assessment of the toxicology of a biocidal active or product is a cornerstone of any submission for approval. Our extensive experience in identifying, interpreting and summarising toxicological data makes us an ideal partner for this aspect of your BPR submissions.
CLP
Good communication – as intended by the CLP legislation – is a vital part of the biocides regulatory scene. As experts in hazard characterisation, we are your ideal partners for CLP-related tasks. We are also experienced in using the CLP regulatory text and associated guidance to derive classifications for mixtures such as biocidal products, which can greatly reduce the need for testing.
IUCLID
BPR submissions are prepared in the IUCLID software. We have worked with this programme for many years, and are familiar with its formats and peculiarities. Our dedicated IUCLID server is constantly backed up, ensuring the utmost protection of your data.
Endocrine Disruptors
Recent guidance jointly issued by ECHA and EFSA provides a detailed methodology for gathering and evaluating the information critical for the assessment of the endocrine-disrupting properties of biocidal products. We are experienced in identifying the relevant data and preparing the summaries and assessment in the required format.
Helpful link - BPR
Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 concerning the making available on the market and use of biocidal products
Exposure Estimation
Once a chemical’s toxicological hazards have been characterised, it is crucial to understand what the potential human exposure might be. This is always difficult, particularly so for biocidal products, where very different groups might be at risk (e.g. professional users, bystanders and even inadvertently-exposed children).
We always treat exposure estimation as a collaborative process, guiding our clients to identify the information necessary for a robust health risk assessment. We are, though, familiar with many of the key software tools for exposure estimation, including ECHA’s Chesar, EasyTRA, BEAT, EUSES and ConsExpo, as well as the key guidance relating to modelling of biocide exposures.
Some of our case studies in this area
Making sense of skin sensitisation
Blog articles
From cosmetics to cleaning products, skin allergy (sensitisation) is a prominent feature of our modern chemical-centric world. Put simply, this hazard is an abnormal reaction of the immune system which makes certain individuals overly sensitive to particular chemicals. Read more in our blog, to help you make sense of sensitisation.
Knowledge is key. Part 2: The bibra TRACE database (and supporting databank)
Blog articles
In Part 1, Peter Watts gave a potted history of his personal early experience in literature searching and toxicity data identification. Along with our colleagues of the same 'fine vintage', he weathered the storms of change, progressing from a time of back-strain (from carrying huge texts around) and index finger wear (turning pages) to dial-up and then to web-based searching. With your indulgence, Pete would now like to expand a little regarding TRACE and its value to clients and the bibra toxicologists.
Knowledge is key. Part 1: Toxicity literature searching, a personal history
Blog articles
Our Toxicology Director, Peter Watts, has written a very interesting article focussing on toxicity literature searching, from his own perspective (having been at bibra for 40+ years)
