Opportunities: 2  $^{4}$ EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), 2020b. Scientific report on the cumulative dietary risk characterisation of pesticides  that have chronic effects on the thyroid. EFSA Journal 2020;18(4):6088, 71 pp. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2020.6088 $^{3}$ EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), 2020a. Scientific report on cumulative dietary risk characterisation of  pesticides  that  have  acute  effects  on  the  nervous  system.  EFSA  Journal  2020;18(4):6087,  79  pp.  https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2020.6087  $^{2}$ http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/180719  1 EFSA Scienti fi c Committee, More SJ, Bampidis V, Benford D, Bennekou SH, Bragard C, Halldorsson TI, Hernandez-Jerez AF,  Koutsoumanis K, Naegeli H, Schlatter JR, Silano V, Nielsen SS, Schrenk D, Turck D, Younes M, Benfenati E, Castle L,  Cedergreen N, Hardy A, Laskowski R, Leblanc JC, Kortenkamp A, Ragas A, Posthuma L, Svendsen C, Solecki R, Testai E,  Dujardin B, Kass GEN, Manini P, Jeddi MZ , Dorne J-LCM and Hogstrand C, 2019. Guidance on harmonised methodologies for  human health, animal health and ecological risk assessment of combined exposure to multiple chemicals. EFSA Journal  2019;17(3):5634, 77 pp. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5634  • The recent pilot assessments on cumulative risk assessment for pesticides (EFSA, 2020a 3 ;  EFSA, 2020b 4 ) are a solid basis for the future implementation in this area. Based on this  experience EFSA is developing a screening method for a leaner approach in elaborating  cumulative assessment groups. The Commission and EFSA will develop an action plan by  • Several national competent authorities have reported the availability of chemical occurrence  data in (drinking) water and other data that may be useful for the assessment of non-dietary  exposure. This will support EFSA in reviewing availability of relevant occurrence data and  identifying needs for further monitoring data in this area. This will need to be considered  together with activities planned under the umbrella of environmental risk assessment.  • Over the recent years, EFSA made progress on the harmonised collection of food  consumption data and chemical occurrence data in food. These data are adequate for  assessing dietary exposure to multiple chemicals because they allow identification of co- occurring chemicals and foods that are consumed simultaneously. Regarding the combined  toxicity of multiple chemicals, however, structured data are still limited. To ensure a better  access to the relevant toxicological data, EFSA will further expand its OpenFoodTox  Database 2 which is currently at EU level the most comprehensive open-access repository of  toxicity information.  • Software tools for the assessment of multiple chemicals have been developed in different  frameworks and are now available on different platforms (e.g. MCRA Software, EuroMix  Toolbox, Danish Mixture Calculator, MYCHIF, BIKE etc). To ensure proper use of the different  calculators, all tools will be brought together into a harmonised, well-structured (i.e.  modular) and fully transparent (i.e. open source) platform. After deployment of the common  platform, new additional modules will be added to address new methodological  developments.  • The HORIZON 2020 Framework Programme for research has delivered several projects  which may be relevant for the risk assessment of combined exposure to multiple chemicals  (e.g. EuroMix, Human Exposome Project, HBM4EU and FOODSAFETY4EU). These projects  provide a good opportunity to identify most recent methodological developments in this area  and will also support EFSA in the identification of possible future developments and  innovation projects. • Available methods are already well described in the guidance of EFSA Scientific Committee  (2019 1 ), which includes several recommendations for future methodological developments.  Together with the recent pilot assessments in the area of pesticides and the practical  experience gained by other European and international partners, EFSA will have a strong  basis to identify all requirements for further guidance and methodological development. All  proposals for methodological developments will be collected, prioritised and potential  partners for innovative research projects will be identified. 