IPChem Standards: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 12:17, 10 September 2026

Data generated within the EDIAQI project will be made accessible through IPCHEM (the Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring). IPCHEM serves as the European reference access point for discovering, locating, and retrieving chemical occurrence data across various media, including the environment, humans, food/feed, products, and indoor air across the European Union.

IPCHEM is structured into four modules based on chemical monitoring data categorization:

Environmental monitoring
Human Biomonitoring
Food and Feed
Products and Indoor Air

The platform is operated by European Commission Services in collaboration with several European Union Agencies.

Purpose

In alignment with the core objectives of the EDIAQI project, the IPCHEM platform addresses a critical gap in the European chemical policy knowledge base: the lack of integrated data on chemical exposure and resulting body burdens in humans and the environment.

Additional core purposes of IPCHEM include:

Facilitating the discovery of chemical monitoring initiatives for specific substances and media.
Providing transparent access to the conditions of data use and data-sharing licensing for specific collections.
Supplying documentation on sampling strategies and analytical chemical methods used in each initiative.

Through these functions, IPCHEM establishes a coordinated framework for collecting, storing, accessing, and evaluating data on the occurrence of individual chemicals and chemical mixtures. As highlighted in the European Commission Communication "The combination effects of chemicals – Chemical mixtures", this coordinated framework helps establish links between environmental exposure and epidemiological data, facilitating research into biological effects and supporting improved public health outcomes [1].

Contributors and Data Ingestion

Chemical occurrence data can be searched and retrieved via the IPCHEM Search Engine. Primary data contributors to IPCHEM include:

Competent Authorities of EU Member States
Universities and research institutions
International non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
Public and private bodies monitoring chemical occurrences
European Commission Services and decentralized EU Agencies (such as the EEA, ECHA, and EFSA)

Within the EDIAQI project framework (Work Package 4: Task 4.1 and Task 4.3), project partners regularly deliver validated chemical monitoring data to IPCHEM. Static and chemical dataset submissions follow standard IPCHEM metadata exchange templates and reporting protocols on an annual basis.

Data Availability and Interoperability

By default, chemical monitoring data hosted on the IPCHEM platform is accessible under the principles of Free, Full, Open, and Timely access, adhering to the European Strategy for Data and the Open Data Directive.

Data entries are paired with standardized metadata to ensure complete interpretability and FAIR compliance (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable):

All datasets follow international metadata schemas such as Dublin Core (ISO 15836) and DCAT-AP.
Measured chemical parameters are mapped to persistent identifiers and reference vocabularies, including the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) database and EIONET vocabularies.
Datasets are fully indexed and discoverable through Elasticsearch metadata services.

References

1. IPCHEM - Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring: Quick Reference Guide for End-Users

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+Data generated within the [https://ediaqi.eu/ '''EDIAQI'''] project will be made accessible through [https://ipchem.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ '''IPCHEM'''] (the '''Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring'''). IPCHEM serves as the European reference access point for discovering, locating, and retrieving chemical occurrence data across various media, including the environment, humans, food/feed, products, and indoor air across the [[wikipedia:European_Union|European Union]].
+'''IPCHEM''' is structured into '''four modules''' based on chemical monitoring data categorization:
+* '''Environmental monitoring'''
+* '''Human Biomonitoring'''
+* '''Food and Feed'''
+* '''Products and Indoor Air'''
-[[Category: Data Management]]
+The platform is operated by [[wikipedia:European_Commission|European Commission]] Services in collaboration with several [[wikipedia:Agencies_of_the_European_Union|European Union Agencies]].
-EDIAQI project data will be made accessible through IPCHEM {{cite |web|https://ipchem.jrc.ec.europa.eu/}}.
-IPCHEM is the Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring and reference access point for locating and retrieving chemical occurrence data across various media (e.g. environment, human, food/feed, indoor air and products) in the European Union. IPCHEM is structured into four modules, according to the chemical monitoring data categorisation: Environmental monitoring, Human Bio-Monitoring, Food and Feed, Products and Indoor Air. The platform is being operated by the European Commission Services and the European Union Agencies.
+=== Purpose ===
+In alignment with the core objectives of the '''EDIAQI''' project, the '''IPCHEM''' platform addresses a critical gap in the European chemical policy knowledge base: the lack of integrated data on chemical exposure and resulting body burdens in humans and the environment.
-In accordance with the main objective of EDIAQI project the IPCHEM platform addresses one of the major gaps in our knowledge base for chemical policies, which is the lack of information on exposure to chemicals and their burden in the human body and the environment. Further purposes of IPCHEM are the discovery of a chemical monitoring initiative for a specific substance and/or media, the retrieval of information on the conditions of data use related to a specific data collection, and the access to and documentation on the sampling and analytical methods used in the specific monitoring initiative.
+Additional core purposes of '''IPCHEM''' include:
+* Facilitating the discovery of chemical monitoring initiatives for specific substances and media.
+* Providing transparent access to the conditions of data use and data-sharing licensing for specific collections.
+* Supplying documentation on sampling strategies and analytical chemical methods used in each initiative.
-Therefore, IPCHEM supports a coordinated approach for collecting, storing, accessing, and evaluating data related to occurrence of chemicals and chemical mixtures. "This would help identify links between exposure and epidemiological data in order to explore potential biological effects and lead to improved health outcomes” as it is stated in the EC Communication “The combination effects of chemicals – Chemical mixtures”{{cite web |url=https://ipchem.jrc.ec.europa.eu/documents/IPCHEM_Quick_Reference_Guide_V4.pdf |title=IPCHEM - Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring: Quick reference guide for end-users |author=Stylianos Kephalopoulos, Alberto Cusinato, Dorelia Lipsa, Vittorio Reina |date=2018}}.
+Through these functions, '''IPCHEM''' establishes a coordinated framework for collecting, storing, accessing, and evaluating data on the occurrence of individual chemicals and chemical mixtures. As highlighted in the European Commission Communication ''"The combination effects of chemicals – Chemical mixtures"'', this coordinated framework helps establish links between environmental exposure and epidemiological data, facilitating research into biological effects and supporting improved public health outcomes [1].
-Via IPCHEM search engine{{cite |web|https://ipchem.jrc.ec.europa.eu/#discovery}} chemicals can be searched. Contributors to IPCHEM are EU Member States Competent Authorities, Universities and Research Institutions, International non-governmental organisations, public and private institution collecting chemical monitoring data, European Commission Services and European Executive and Decentralised Agencies. EDIAQI partners are contributing to IPCHEM by sharing the data via the three required IPCHEM forms on a regular basis once a year.
+=== Contributors and Data Ingestion ===
+Chemical occurrence data can be searched and retrieved via the [https://ipchem.jrc.ec.europa.eu/#discovery '''IPCHEM Search Engine''']. Primary data contributors to '''IPCHEM''' include:
+* Competent Authorities of [[wikipedia:Member_state_of_the_European_Union|EU Member States]]
+* Universities and research institutions
+* International non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
+* Public and private bodies monitoring chemical occurrences
+* European Commission Services and decentralized EU Agencies (such as the EEA, ECHA, and EFSA)
-By default, the chemical monitoring data retrievable through the IPCHEM platform is made available to all user groups under the conditions of Free, Full, Open and Timely access according to the ''European strategy for data'' and the Open Data Directive. The data will be provided with all the necessary attributes to facilitate their interpretation and shall be accompanied by the metadata to make them usable and understandable by the user or subject to specific conditions deriving from those exceptions. All data are described with required metadata based on international, standardized templates (e.g., Dublin Core) or individual templates. Moreover, data are indexed and discoverable through metadata ElasticSearch.
+Within the '''EDIAQI''' project framework (Work Package 4: Task 4.1 and Task 4.3), project partners regularly deliver validated chemical monitoring data to '''IPCHEM'''. Static and chemical dataset submissions follow standard IPCHEM metadata exchange templates and reporting protocols on an annual basis.
+=== Data Availability and Interoperability ===
+By default, chemical monitoring data hosted on the '''IPCHEM''' platform is accessible under the principles of Free, Full, Open, and Timely access, adhering to the ''European Strategy for Data'' and the [[wikipedia:Directive_on_the_re-use_of_public_sector_information|Open Data Directive]].
+Data entries are paired with standardized metadata to ensure complete interpretability and FAIR compliance (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable):
+* All datasets follow international metadata schemas such as [[wikipedia:Dublin_Core|Dublin Core]] (ISO 15836) and DCAT-AP.
+* Measured chemical parameters are mapped to persistent identifiers and reference vocabularies, including the European Chemicals Agency ([[wikipedia:European_Chemicals_Agency|ECHA]]) database and EIONET vocabularies.
+* Datasets are fully indexed and discoverable through [[wikipedia:Elasticsearch|Elasticsearch]] metadata services.
+== References ==
+. [https://ipchem.jrc.ec.europa.eu/documents/IPCHEM_Quick_Reference_Guide_V4.pdf IPCHEM - Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring: Quick Reference Guide for End-Users]
+[[Category:Sensors and Monitoring Methods]]
+[[Category:IAQ Policy and Guidelines]]