RIVM has updated the standard for exposure assessment of cleaning products in the ConsExpo Cleaning Products Fact Sheet. RIVM also released a new version of ConsExpo Web, the application for estimating consumer exposure to chemical substances. ConsExpo enables the assessment of consumer exposure to substances from products such as paint, cleaning products and personal care products. ConsExpo is used both within and outside Europe by governments, institutes and industries. The application provides a number of exposure assessment models and a database of default exposure parameters. Together, the models and the database provide a basis for estimating consumer exposure to a specific product in a transparent and standardised way.
Updated default values for cleaning products
The Cleaning Products Fact Sheet describes default values that are useful for estimating exposure to substances in a cleaning product, such as for duration and frequency of product use and the used amount. It contains information on the consumer use of laundry detergents, dishwashing detergents, all-purpose cleaners, abrasives, bathroom cleaners, floor, carpet and furniture cleaners and other cleaning products. For the revised version of the Cleaning Products Fact Sheet, the latest data sources have been evaluated and the defaults were adapted where applicable.
New release ConsExpo Web
A new feature of ConsExpo Web version 1.0.2 is the possibility to calculate a peak exposure for inhalation exposure. Furthermore, users can now choose the applicable parameters such as body weight and inhalation rate from a default list. The revised standard values from the updated Fact Sheet Cleaning Products are included in the fact sheet default database. ConsExpo 1.0.2 is accompanied with an update of the manual.
ConsExpo is developed by RIVM for the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport since 1993. ConsExpo Web is realised by RIVM in collaboration with the counterpart institutes ANSES (France), BfR (Germany), FOPH (Switzerland) and Health Canada.
ConsExpo Web is available via rivm.nl/consexpo. After registration, ConsExpo Web is free to use.