VERMEER FCM: a tool combining migration modelling and in silico hazard predictions for substances migrating from food contact materials

For the risk assessment of compounds migrating from food contact materials (FCM), information on the exposure to the migrant as well as its possible hazards is needed. To support the evaluation of both starting products and NIAS from plastic FCM, the VERMEER FCM tool has been developed within the context of the European Life VERMEER project (ENV/IT/000167). The software, freely available, is integrated in MERLIN-Expo and has been designed in line with the regulatory framework for plastics FCM. VERMEER FCM consists of 3 modules that allow (i) to model the migration of chemicals into food, (ii) to predict toxicological endpoints relevant for FCM compounds and (iii) to automatically check whether the compound of interest is included in the positive list of the European Regulation on plastic FCM 10/2011. The three modules can be run either separately or in combination. The migration model integrated in VERMEER FCM has been newly developed and allows to run both deterministic and probabilistic simulations. Hazards are predicted by QSAR models that have been selected from the publicly available VegaHUB and include models for genotoxicity, subchronic toxicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity as well as carcinogenicity. In order to apply the VERMEER FCM tool, users are asked to provide information regarding the chemical(s) of interest (including the SMILES formula), the FCM and the food concerned, and other important parameters such as the contact time between food and FCM, contact temperature and some physico-chemical properties of the chemical migrant.