Umweltbundesamt (UBA)

UBA is Germany’s main environmental protection agency. UBAs task is to ensure a healthy environment with clean air and water, free of pollutants to the greatest extent possible. UBA gathers data on the state of the environment, detects environmental problems, assess them and proposes solutions. They are concerned with a broad spectrum of issues e.g. waste avoidance, climate protection, pesticide approvals and chemical regulation under the REACH framework. UBA provides scientific assistance to the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and provides the general public with information on all environmental issues. UBA is one of three German federal authorities responsible for the REACH implementation and in this respect deals with all issues concerning the environment. UBA is engaged in evaluating information submitted by registrants to the ECHA (European Chemicals Agency), identifying substances that require regulation, supporting REACH stakeholders, further developing chemical safety evaluation methods, making proposals on the further development of the REACH Regulation and introducing them to the discussion process at EU level. One major task of UBA under the REACH framework is the identification and regulation of endocrine disrupting substances in the environment for the biocide directive and the plant protection directive. UBA initiates regulatory risk management measures to minimize the environmental exposure of endocrine disruptors. To further develop the science based identification and evaluation of endocrine disrupting chemicals UBA launches research projects, is involved in discussion processes with ECHA, the EC and other EU member states and is involved as national coordinator in the OECD test guideline program. The aim of UBA´s activities with ERGO is to address the existing knowledge and testing gaps from a regulatory point of view.

Jürgen holds a PhD in chemistry/biochemistry and is an expert for in vitro and in vivo assessment of endocrine disrupting effects. Since 2014 he has worked as a Scientific Officer for UBA and his main tasks are the identification, evaluation and regulation of endocrine disrupting substances in the environment and the application of QSAR and read across methods under the REACH framework. Since 2015 he is a member of the ECHA´s Endocrine Disruptors Expert Group. Before working for UBA Jürgen worked as a senior researcher at the Centre for Environmental Research and Sustainable Technology at University of Bremen. During this time, he was involved in leading positions in various national and international research projects dealing with the hazard and risk assessment of chemicals. Jürgen leads WP2 of ERGO. He will coordinate the data management (scientific data generated within ERGO tasks. His major task will be the communication with all the WPs that generate and/or analyse data in order to organise and structure the data management and usage. He will be responsible for a meta-analysis of the data with respect to regulatory needs and existing gaps that will feed into the strategy and the experimental tasks of ERGO. He will coordinate the selection of appropriate case study compounds. He will establish and coordinate a User Reference Group (URG) comprised of regulators and policy makers from various European countries and representatives of industry as recipients of the tools and tests that will be developed within ERGO.

Simone holds a Master’s degree in Ecotoxicology and is an expert for in vitro and in vivo assessment of endocrine disrupting effects. Since 2018 she works as a Scientific Officer for the German Environment Agency and her main tasks are the evaluation and regulation of endocrine disrupting substances and Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in the environment, as well as the ecotoxicological assessment under the REACH framework. She is responsible for the lead of ERGO’s WP2. She will coordinate the data management tasks within the ERGO project, with her major task being the communication with all WPs that generate and/or analyse data. Furthermore, she will be responsible for a meta-analysis of the collected data with respect to regulatory needs and existing gaps as well as the coordination of the selection of appropriate case study compounds at the beginning of the project. Additionally, she will establish and coordinate a User Reference Group (URG) comprising regulators, policy makers and representatives of industry as recipients of the tools and tests developed within the ERGO project.