Partnership, common methodology and transparency

The HERA project was sponsored by two industry associations, namely Cefic (with its relevant sector groups) and A.I.S.E. The initial idea for the HERA project came from downstream users of chemicals who were formulating and marketing household detergents and cleaning products in Europe. These companies, members of A.I.S.E., were committed to ensuring that risk assessment remained the cornerstone of chemicals management. For years, individual companies in the consumer products industry had relied on risk assessment to guarantee product safety and guide their internal risk management measures. The chemical industry, likewise, had never considered hazard assessment alone to be sufficient for ensuring that products placed on the market are safe for human health and the environment.

Chemical suppliers joined the initiative either as individual companies or through their respective industry associations, most of which were Sector Groups of Cefic. This collaboration led to the launch of the HERA project in September 1999, an industry-driven partnership between A.I.S.E. and Cefic. The companies affiliated to these associations produce the chemical ingredients on the one side and formulate the finished products on the other. Hence, they are vital in providing the necessary hazard data on the ingredients, the consumer exposure scenarios for the products and the expertise to make the risk assessments. HERA was also forging close links with the sister associations of A.I.S.E. and Cefic in Japan and the USA.

Companies and associations involved in the HERA project committed themselves to an efficient development of the project by agreeing to contribute to the methodology, helping to select the substances to be studied, providing the hazard and exposure information on human health and the environment, talking to stakeholders and ultimately, producing and publishing the final HERA risk assessments.

In 2001, HERA invited scientists from European universities and other scientific organisations to join its External Advisory Panel (EAP). The EAP reviewed the HERA methodology and the risk assessments posted on the website and thus helped the HERA team in its objective to continuously optimize the quality of its work.

Collaboration between Upstream and Downstream partners was not new to the industry. In the early 1990s, a successful programme had already been established to develop risk assessment methodologies: ERASM. ERASM is a joint research platform established in 1991 by A.I.S.E and CESIO (representing the surfactants industry) which has carried out risk assessments on the impact of surfactants on the environment and human health. Research projects cover the key phases of a surfactant’s value chain and focus on the environmental fate and effects of surfactants and the consequences of exposure on human health. ERASM is widely recognised as a centre of excellence for innovative, independent scientific research, and currently sponsors the HERA website.