The government has appointed Christina Rudén, Professor of Regulatory Toxicology and Ecotoxicology at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), as a special investigator in an investigation, which will propose strategies for taking into account the cocktail effect in legislation regulating chemicals.
The cocktail effect means that chemical substances can exacerbate each other’s dangerous effects and the government wants the investigation to take a holistic approach to the risks involved.
”I am grateful and happy to get the opportunity to work with this important and complex issue. I hope to be able to come up with clear recommendations on how to push this question further and thereby contribute to realizing the goal of a non toxic environment”, says Christina Rudén.
Within the EU, chemicals are usually regulated one by one, but it is not common that similar chemicals are regulated in groups.
“It is high time to take a holistic approach to the amount of chemicals we are exposed to in everyday life and to develop a strategy for how we handle the risks. I am pleased that Christina Rudén, with her unique experience and knowledge, has taken on this important task”, says Minister of the Environment, Karolina Skog, in a press release.
The investigation is expected to be completed within 18 months.
