Hera : The Human and environmental Risk Assessment Industry initiative for chemicals used in household detergent and cleaning products

»HERA«, the Human and Environmental Risk Assessment initiative is a joint partnership between AISE, the European Detergent, Cleaning and Maintenance Product Association and CEFIC, the European Chemical Industry Council whose member companies supply detergent chemicals to the AISE companies. The objective of HERA is to demonstrate the feasibility of performing »targeted risk assessment« and in doing so to provide relevant safety information on household detergent and cleaning products and their ingredients to all interested parties. HERA will progress in two phases: Phase I will focus on the development of the targeted risk assessment methodology to be illustrated with some examples. In Phase II, the methodology will be applied to a wider range of ingredients. While the exercise is currently limited to chemicals used in detergent and cleaning products sold to the general public in Europe, we think it can serve as a pilot for reapplication in other chemical sectors or other geographies. This targeted risk assessment approach should be applied as the basis for risk management decisions.