Held on the closing Friday of the Nobel Symposium week, the satellite event “The Future of Chemical Safety” brought together scientists, regulators, and policy-makers in Stockholm and online to advance one core message: rigorous chemical safety is critical for providing society with safer, more sustainable chemicals and products. 

Hosted by SUCCeSS at Stockholm University, the program began with opening remarks from Oskar Karlsson and Christina Rudén, followed by six keynote talks spanning the entire innovation-to-regulation pathway. 

• Thomas Hartung, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health – “ToxAIcology”: Harnessing AI and non-animal models to modernise safety assessment. 
• Beate Escher, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – Accelerating hazard screening with high-throughput in-vitro effect-based tools. 
• Kathrin Fenner, Eawag and University of Zurich – Making “degradable-by-design” chemicals a practical reality. 
• Marlene Ågerstrand, Stockholm University – Improving science-policy exchange in chemical risk assessment and management. 
• Sharon McGuinness, European Chemicals Agency – The current state and future direction of EU chemical regulation. 
• Serenella Sala, European Commission's Joint Research Centre – Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design pathways that integrate safety, circularity, and performance. 

The panel discussion “Bridging Science and Policy: Challenges and Opportunities in Chemical Safety,” emphasized the importance of aligning cutting-edge toxicology, life-cycle thinking, and regulatory frameworks more effectively. Throughout the day, poster sessions showcased early-career research, reinforcing the event’s goal of cultivating the next generation of experts committed to safer and more sustainable chemistry. 

Key Takeaways

Further work—and collaboration—is needed to develop a framework that enables the production of truly safe and sustainable chemicals and products. The event emphasized that future risk assessments must shift from relying solely on apical toxicity endpoints and toward mechanistic, mode-of-action and adverse outcome pathway (AOP)-based evidence. While a modern toolbox is emerging, including AI, in vitro screening, omics methods and degradable-by-design chemistry, these tools often remain siloed and lack shared data standards and full interoperability. There is an urgent need for interoperable digital platforms that integrate exposure, bioactivity, and fate models. Although regulatory updates are beginning to accommodate New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), key challenges remain. Validation requirements, algorithm transparency, and harmonized guidance are still in development and must ensure that safety standards are at least equivalent to those of current approaches. Capacity building is critical to equip the next generation of chemists and toxicologists with the skills required to effectively apply omics tools, AI, computational modelling, and life-cycle thinking. By combining rigorous mechanistic science with modern digital tools, and by bridging the science-policy gap, the community can transform chemical safety from a regulatory burden into a driver of sustainable innovation.