Introduction:

A free software application called QSAR Toolbox provides transparent and reproducible chemical hazard assessment. It supports the retrieval of experimental data, metabolic modelling, and chemical property profiling.

• The programme can be used to identify chemical categories and structurally and mechanistically specified analogues that can be utilised as sources for read-across and trend analysis to fill in data gaps.
• The main advantages of the toolbox are effective, data-rich, transparent, multifunctional, exhaustive, free, and streamlined.

Background of the OECD QSAR Toolbox Development:

• The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), OECD member and partner countries, and the QSAR community collaborated in this project to lead a free software to support chemical hazard assessment worldwide in both the private and public sectors.
• It helps in minimizing animal testing without reducing the safety of human health and the environment.

Significance:

• Connection with IUCLID:

Any organization or person that has to record, save, submit, and exchange information about chemicals should use IUCLID as their primary tool. Therefore, improved connection with IUCLID allows QSAR Toolbox 4.6 to better incorporate data with increased capacity to use external models, which provides additional awareness of chemical properties and safety between the two platforms.
The easily accessible QSAR Toolbox 4.6 helps researchers access information about tested substances in ECHA’s chemical database and analyse relevant information with improved performance.

• New feature for the REACH database:

The new version helps to generate predictions by making available four times more substances from REACH registrations. Users can now organise and use REACH data according to the actual substances that were used to generate toxicological data. The new update contains experimental results submitted within REACH registrations.

The previous version was not effective at making predictions, but it will help to visualize the data organized by REACH registration.

Reference: https://echa.europa.eu/-/new-oecd-qsar-toolbox-version-available