Gaps and Needs in the current Standardisation Landscape

The EMBRACE project has finalized the first iteration of its Standardization Roadmap, a foundational document that outlines the project's strategic approach to enhancing Europe's resilience against incidents involving biological toxins.

The roadmap presents a comprehensive analysis of the existing European and international standardization landscape relevant to CBRN security, with a special focus on biotoxins. A systematic review confirmed the project's core premise: a critical gap exists in the current framework. While robust standards are in place for general crisis management and industrial biocontamination, there is a significant lack of standards tailored to the unique challenges posed by biotoxin threats.

Key deficiencies were identified in several areas, including the absence of harmonized methods for biotoxin-specific detection, a lack of validated decontamination protocols for diverse biotoxin classes, and insufficient integration of biotoxin considerations into overarching crisis management and personal protective equipment (PPE) standards.

To address these gaps, the roadmap details a pragmatic and focused action plan. Instead of initiating new work items, the EMBRACE project will act as a key expert contributor to ongoing standardization efforts. This strategy involves establishing formal liaisons with key Technical Committees, such as CEN/TC 391 ‘Societal and Citizen Security,’ and providing targeted, evidence-based contributions to relevant CEN Workshop Agreements (CWAs), including those on human decontamination and disaster risk preparedness.

Through this strategic engagement, the EMBRACE project will ensure its innovative research outcomes are integrated into the normative framework governing Europe’s resilience, delivering a lasting impact on the continent's preparedness for biotoxin incidents.

Photo: A firefighter in uniform. by Danil_Rudenko at Envato