PikMe: Prioritization tool for chemicals of emerging concern

The Norwegian Environment Agency, Norwegian Institute for Water Research (Niva) and Nilu are proud to announce the launch of a new tool for prioritizing chemicals of emerging concern.

Identifies and prioritizes the most hazardous chemicals and chemical groups

With over 350,000 chemicals in trade today and more than 100,000 in use within the EU market, it remains challenging to predict which substances could negatively impact human health and the environment. 

To address this challenge, we developed PikMe, a tool that efficiently identifies and prioritizes the most hazardous chemicals and chemical groups currently on the market.

Cost-effective data collection

Furthermore, due to the resource-intensive nature of environmental sampling and chemical analysis in screening and monitoring programs, only a limited number of chemicals can be quantitatively monitored each year.

Selecting chemicals for monitoring with both hight potential for harm as well as minimised probability for non-detections, is vital to ensure cost-effective data collection and to mitigate risks to human health and the environment. 

Evidence-based approach to chemical prioritization

The challenges of limited data and the need for a more efficient, evidence-based approach to chemical prioritization led to the creation of PikMe. The tool is highly customizable, accommodating different user scenarios and prioritization goals.

Instead of a static global risk score, PikMe allows for the assessment of persistence (P), mobility (M), bioaccumulation (B), and toxicity (T) and numerous other risk parameters - either individually or in combination.

This flexibility ensures that the tool can be tailored to meet the specific needs of various projects. 

Selecting chemicals for screening program

In Norway we have already applied PikMe for selecting chemicals for screening program, demonstrating its practical value in real-world scenarios.