Anthropological, historical and art historical research are established areas of research in relation to the ethnographic collection of the Royal Museum for Central Africa. In addition to this research, analytical research on objective factual documentation of material from the collection is also required for a full understanding of the collection and for advances in conservation and conservation approaches implemented at the RMCA, as well as to support anthropological provenance research. Material analysis is crucial for an ethnographic collection with known history of biocide application. Having objective analytical data on toxic substances is vital for the protection of RMCA employees, researchers and other stakeholders from health risks. This FEDtWIN profile focuses on the study of (in)organic toxic substances (e.g. biocides and pigments) in the RMCA's ethnographic collection, used for risk management, (preventive) conservation and/or provenance documentation of the collection. It is expected that the FEDtWIN mandate holder will be involved in the following specific activities: setting up a (chronological) biocide database of the collection make the origin of the artefacts more objective, for example by studying the use of pigments defining and encouraging daily use of safe handling practices for RMCA professionals and stakeholders improvement of the preventive conservation and exhibition strategies of RMCA artefacts for further exploration, organization and valorization of the museum collection enrichment of communication with the museum audience through 'science' augmented visualization of artefacts and their function/meaning in their original context EPITOX has a 10-year perspective, but will initially focus on analysis of toxic materials in the collection. Therefore, a first objective of this project involves the preparation, validation and implementation of a largely non-invasive protocol for qualitative identification of inorganic toxic substances and pigments on e.g. wood, textiles and feathers in ethnographic artefacts, including the creation of spectral databases (infrared, raman and X-ray diffraction) of relevant materials. Variants of these protocols for characterizing interior surfaces of museum showcases and storage racks will also be defined. As a second objective, sampling procedures will be optimized, validated and implemented for identifying organic biocidal residues, with the aim of proposing risk mitigation strategies. A complete characterization of these materials and their degradation products is necessary, including systematic studies on manufacturing processes, degradation mechanisms and mobility and/or volatility of toxins. At the same time, this action improves knowledge about the (sensitive) materials in the collection; this information will form the factual basis for proposing new guidelines for preventive conservation in the RMCA.