Latest blog posts
Using Water Framework Directive Watch List Data Sets to Estimate Europe‐wide Chemical Exposures and Potential Aquatic Risks: Representativity and Uncertainty?
July 19, 2021 by Graham Merrington
We at wca have been working over the last year and a half on the exposure data for some of the Watch List substances under the Water Framework Directive (WFD),…
Employee Ownership Day
June 17, 2021 by Rhiannon Smith
Did you know that 25 June is employee ownership day? wca are proud to be an employee-owned company and will be celebrating this day along with a…
Pharmaceuticals in the Environment – a Global Challenge Session at SETAC Europe
May 10, 2021 by Dean Leverett
I co-chaired a live virtual discussion on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment in the final session block of SETAC Europe 2021. The discussion was split into three blocks, each covering a…
Importance of Chemical Speciation and Bioavailability in Hazard Assessment, Risk Assessment and Regulation of Metals in Multi-Stressor Environmental Conditions
May 7, 2021 by Adam Peters
Adam Peters co-chaired a discussion session on the Importance of Chemical Speciation and Bioavailability in Hazard Assessment, Risk Assessment and Regulation of Metals in Multi-Stressor Environmental Conditions. There was a…
wca at SETAC 2021: Reliability of fish data for endocrine disruptor hazard assessment
May 4, 2021 by Becky Brown
I am really looking forward to virtual SETAC Europe this week. I have already been able to look at the programme and view some of the scientific content. There…
SETAC Europe 2021 Annual Meeting
April 30, 2021 by Iain Wilson
wca are long standing partners of SETAC Europe. As in previous years, we have a major presence at the 31st Annual SETAC Europe Meeting (Virtual Conference). The meeting starts on…
UK Only Representative (OR) services
April 27, 2021 by Rhiannon Smith
As the initial rush is over, and we reach the deadline for grandfathering substances into UK REACH, many companies are looking to the next deadline in October for submitting Downstream…
UK REACH: Deadline for grandfathering fast approaching
March 2, 2021 by Becky Marks
Under UK REACH, UK-based companies with existing registrations under EU REACH can benefit from grandfathering these into the UK system. This option applies for any UK-based company that held an…
Plant Protection Products – gearing up for IUCLID
February 17, 2021 by Becky Marks
From 27th March 2021 the Transparency Regulation (EU 1381/2019) will come into force, which aims to increase transparency of data and decision making for risk assessments in the…
Use of the Xenopus eleutheroembyronic thyroid assay (XETA) in endocrine assessments
February 9, 2021 by Grace Panter
Becky Brown and myself recently attended an interesting webinar by European Food Safety Authority/European Chemicals Agency (EFSA/ECHA) on how to consider the Xenopus eleuthereombryonic thyroid assay (XETA) in the assessment strategy of…
An Irish Adventure
January 14, 2021 by Dean Leverett
Since the formation of wca environment Ltd in 2005, the company has operated out of a single office in southern England. During 2020, with the end of the Brexit transition…
Developing understanding of the fate and behaviour of silver in fresh waters and waste waters
December 14, 2020 by Adam Peters
Adam and Graham have been working with researchers from the Wilfred Laurier University and the University of Waterloo in Canada, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in…
SETAC-North America: SETAC SciCon2 Round-up
December 2, 2020 by Grace Panter
It was a busy week for Adam and Graham participating in the virtual SETAC North America 41st Annual Meeting – SETAC SciCon2 between the 15th and 19th of November 2020. wca were involved…
SETAC North America: SciCon2
November 30, 2020 by Adam Peters
The SETAC North America meeting has been held as a virtual conference recently (SciCon2) and Adam co-chaired a session with Chris Mebane of the USGS on the derivation and use…
Updated UK REACH guidance
October 27, 2020
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published 11 webpages with detailed guidance to comply with UK REACH. More information has been provided on some key issues below. Data requirements: All…
Perspectives on Relevancy Assessment for Non Standard Ecotoxicity Data in Environment Quality Standard derivation: Examples for Diclofenac
October 15, 2020 by Graham Merrington
Graham, Adam and Dean have just published the paper “Perspectives on Relevancy Assessment for Non Standard Ecotoxicity Data in Environment Quality Standard derivation: Examples for Diclofenac” in Bulletin…
Demonstrating the Reliability of Bio‐Met for Determining Compliance with Environmental Quality Standard (EQS) for Metals in Europe
October 5, 2020 by Adam Peters
Adam and Graham have been working with colleagues in Arche Consulting, NiPERA, IZA and ECI to evaluate the reliability of the simplified metal bioavailability tool bio-met for copper, nickel, and…
Deriving a bioavailability-based zinc environmental quality standard for France
September 24, 2020 by Graham Merrington
Adam, Iain and I, along with colleagues at the International Zinc Association have derived a bioavailability-based zinc Environmental Quality Standard (EQS) for France following recently updated European Technical Guidance,…
New guidance on UK REACH
September 4, 2020 by Olivia Tran
Defra published new guidance on UK REACH on 1 September1. The new framework will be administered by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and will come into effect on…
Implications for the EU Ecolabel in the UK after Brexit: an update
August 12, 2020 by Olivia Tran
The European Commission released guidance1 at the end of June on EU Ecolabels awarded by the UK Competent Authority under the Withdrawal Agreement and transitional period. Companies with EU Ecolabelled-products awarded…