Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is exposure assessment?
Exposure assessment is part of the environmental science that focuses on measuring or estimating the exposure levels of a population or a subset of a population to chemical substances or contaminants.

Exposure analysis typically includes calculating the amount, frequency and duration of the exposure of the population to a chemical or to multiple chemicals using information on the levels of the chemicals in products or consumer goods or in the environment in which the population exists.

A realistic exposure assessment is based on real input data and uses scientifically validated models. Assessments will ideally include all the sources and routes of exposure (i.e. inhalation, digestion or dermal absorption). An effective exposure assessment should treat the uncertainty and variability factors in the assessment thus producing results with confidence intervals (i.e. 10mg/day +/- 1.2mg/day). This is also known as probabilistic exposure assessment. CREMe specialises in generating these results for our clients.

2. Why is exposure assessment needed?
Exposure assessments are essential in order to assess the potential risk to a population from a chemical or contaminant. It is important to understand the exposure level of the population to the chemical in order to understand the acute or daily average dose that the individuals in the population are being exposed to and thus to take action and help the population with a high risk of chemical exposure.

3. Why does exposure have to be assessed? Why can’t I just take exposure results published on scientific papers and thus rely on historic data?
There are thousands of chemicals on the market and there are constantly new chemicals being developed and marketed. In a lot of cases, there is no accurate data or information on the actual exposure levels of consumers or populations to the chemicals of interest.

There is often information in the scientific literature on the concentration of a chemical within products or an environment, for example, but lack of actual data on the levels of exposure of the population since this depends not only on the concentration data but also on the population’s usage habits of the products or interaction with the environment – which can be complicated and can change over time.

4. How do you assess the exposure? On what mathematical models is CREMe based?
The CREMe models are based on scientifically validated models of consumer exposure which allow probabilistic input data in the analysis. This enables the assessor to treat the uncertainty which often exists in these situations. The CREMe model permits the use of all of the available data on product usage in order to generate reliable and accurate results with confidence intervals. The CREMe system also allows scenario analysis (i.e. varying important inputs to the model to assess the effect on the results) and sensitivity analysis (i.e. to assess which inputs the outputs of the model are most sensitive to).

For more information on the CREMe models, see CREMe models. For the scientific papers please click here.

5. Does your software consider microbial half-life in its assessments?
The new CREMe Microbial Food Safety model allows the assessor to include microbial half life and other important microbial contaminant factors in the assessment. See our Microbial Press Release for more information on this.

6. Does your software consider the bio-availability of chemicals, ingredients or nutrients to consumers?
Yes, bioavailability factors are taken into account in CREMe assessments using either probabilistic or deterministic factors for the bioavailability of chemicals in foods. Bioavailability factors represent the physical chemical absorption levels of the chemicals, nutrients or functional ingredients of interest from different types of food.

7. Does your software consider health benefits such as crops modified to resist pests or foods with functional benefits or allergens removed?
Yes, not only does CREMe assess the safety of consumers to chemicals with respect to potential adverse effects from potentially hazardous chemicals in products, but the CREMe tool can also calculate consumption levels of beneficial ingredients of products such as functional food ingredients that lower cholesterol or folic acid levels in food products on the market.

This allows food manufacturers to manage functional food ingredient levels in products to produce the optimal benefits to consumers and also to make scientifically substantiated claims for the functional food health benefits of their products.

8. Does your software consider possible negative health implications such as microbial contaminants in foods?
CREMe calculates the exposure of the population to any food borne chemicals, ingredients and contaminants. The health implications from these calculations can then be gauged directly from the results of the assessment. For example, if the result of an analysis showed a high level of chemical intake per kg bodyweight of children to a microbial contaminant, the potential negative implications in terms of the predicted number of adverse events could be quantified and predicted.

9. What software do I need to install on my computer in order to use CREMe?
You do not have to install any software on your own computer. CREMe is a fully web-enabled tool on which all of your exposure assessments will be run using a remote on-demand High Performance Computing cluster. In this way you have the advantage that your computer doesn't get tied up during the intensive calculations. CREMe is compatible with all standard data management packages, so if you have data in a spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel, you can upload the data to CREMe.

10. Which internationally known companies / organisations are currently using CREMe tools (Food Safety, Nutrition, Cosmetics, etc)?
We have a number of groups which are befitting from CREMe including:

• Trinity College Dublin (TCD, Ireland)
• University College Dublin (UCD, Ireland)
• Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI)
• INRAN (National Research Institute for Food and Nutrition, Italy)
• Colipa (the European Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association, based in Brussels)

Read what these organisations have to say about our collaboration.

11. What can your software do that my company / organisation cannot do itself?
CREMe can facilitate, improve the accuracy of and speed up your exposure assessment via a structured approach to exposure assessment based on scientifically validated models, online data sharing, collaboration, on-demand scientific support and training and high performance computing.

12. Is it difficult to use CREMe?
No, it is very easy. We provide all the training and support required at the beginning of your use of CREMe and once each year thereafter to allow you to quickly and easily get to grips with CREMe tools (Food Safety, Nutrition, Cosmetics, etc).

13. Our organisation is international and thus our offices are located all over the world. Is this a problem?
Not at all. CREMe uses a secure online system that enables your remote offices to collaborate and share data anywhere in the world. This allows workflow benefits of using CREMe, since the department for measuring chemical concentrations of products can enter the concentration data from one location, while the exposure analyst with the data on consumer behaviour can then access the chemical data from another location and combine the two. A manager can be located elsewhere and simply log into CREMe to view and download the automatically generated reports.

14. We don’t have the resources to run the calculations on exposure assessments ourselves. Can you perform them for us?
Yes, that is no problem at all. You don't need to sign up for our software, as we provide the consultancy services in-house for you to allow you to get the accurate results you need. You need to provide us with your own data relevant to the project and we set up the data, run the calculations and provide the reports for you. Simply contact us and we will advise you on how we can help you with your work.

15. What is REACH?
REACH is a European law put into force in order to regulate the use and production of chemical substances. The acronym stands for Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals.

More information on REACH

16. What is CREMe Research Network (CRN)?
CREMe emerged out of more than six years of scientific research in Trinity College Dublin. Our interest in scientific research has never ceased. We are working on bringing together researchers from all over the world who are experts in the related areas of consumer exposure to chemicals in food, cosmetics and the environment.

There are two basic levels of membership of CRN:

1. CRN Forum membership: You will be part of our international expert forum and have the possibility to discuss important research issues with other experts of your own area or related areas. You can view reports published within CRN by its members. This membership level is free of charge.

2. Full membership: If you sign up to use an online CREMe tool tools (Food Safety, Nutrition, Cosmetics, etc), you will automatically be provided with full CRN membership allowing you to be part of the expanding group of experts who are using CRN to share expertise, data and reports on their safety analysis. This membership level is included in the CREMe tool license fee.

In exceptional cases free membership can be granted to private individuals interested in issues discussed within the network.

With the help of CRN you will have access to:

• An international network of experts and researchers for collaboration
• Exclusive CREMe reports and articles on current scientific issues that are not publicly available
• A user directory and online forum to enable direct contact and opinion exchange between fellow researchers
• A Forum for requesting specific reports and articles of interest to you
• A Research Experts Chatroom

In combination with a CREMe tool tools (Food Safety, Nutrition, Cosmetics, etc) this gives the additional benefits of:

• Standardised scientifically validated models for calculations
• Growing data sets on consumer behaviour and chemical concentrations. You can choose if you want to share your own data or keep them private
• High Performance Computing for fast data analysis
• Data that members make publicly available within the network stored in one central convenient location, formatted and ready to be used for your assessment calculations

The goal of this network is to make it possible for researchers in the areas of food, consumer products and chemicals to be able to grow their research contacts, exchange their opinions and results and to collaborate in order to access data and expertise amongst their peers in other organisations.

17. Why should I become a member of CRN?
CREMe Research Network (CRN) provides many benefits to you as a researcher and scientist and all of them are completely free of charge. CRN is a network of experts, with whom you – being an expert yourself – can exchange opinions, ideas, reports and research data.

You will have access to our user-directory so you can contact your fellow research colleagues directly to discuss research projects and potential for collaborative efforts.

18. How do I become a member of CRN?
Depending on the frequency of your research projects, you may want to choose one of the two memberships offered:

1. CRN Forum membership: You will be part of our international expert forum and have the possibility to discuss important research issues with other experts of your own area or related areas. You can view reports published within CRN by its members.
2. Full membership: If you sign up to use an online CREMe tool tools (Food Safety, Nutrition, Cosmetics, etc), you will automatically be provided with full CRN membership allowing you to be part of the expanding expert group who are using CRN to share expertise, data and reports on their safety analysis.

In exceptional cases free membership can be granted to private individuals interested in issues discussed within the network.

If you would like more information on this, or if you would like to join CRN, please send an e-mail to crn@cremesoftware.com

19. What kind of issues are discussed in CRN?
All issues relating to food, cosmetic, chemical and environmental safety with an emphasis on consumers and exposure are discussed in CRN. CRN is comprised of a number of forums, each of which contain several discussion threads. Currently the top level forums are:

• REACH, Chemicals & Cosmetics
• FP7 and Other Collaboration Projects
• Food Issues
• Environmental Issues
• General Exposure Forum
• Data Sets and Probabilistic Exposure Assessment Issues
• International Issues

For a summary of the types of discussions that are going on, see the Forum Page which shows some recent questions and answers.

20. I have read through all your FAQs and my question is still unanswered. Can you help me?
Of course, please contact us and we will be very happy to answer any remaining questions. In fact, if you have a question that is not listed here, we would like to hear from you so that we can add the question to the list to help everyone else.