Lessons from the 2018 International Symposium on Alternatives Assessment: Advances and Reflections on Practice and Ongoing Needs to Build the Field

Abstract

Alternatives assessment is gaining traction as a systematic method to support the informed substitution of chemicals of concern. The 2nd International Symposium on Alternatives Assessment, on 1–2 November 2018, convened nearly 150 professionals from government agencies, industry, consultant firms, academia, and advocacy organizations to advance a greater understanding of the evolving methods, practices, and challenges in the use of alternatives assessment. This article reviews highlights and lessons from the symposium, including 1) notable advances in methods, 2) shared insights from practitioners on best practices as well as inherent tensions and challenges, and 3) research and practice needs in the field that can be addressed by organizations such as the newly launched Association for the Advancement of Alternatives Assessment. Being interdisciplinary in nature, the establishment of educational frameworks across disciplines and inclusion of diverse expertise in hazard and exposure assessments, life cycle impacts considerations, design principles, and economic and engineering evaluations will ensure continued growth of the field. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2019;00:1–8. © 2019 SETAC

Life cycle based alternatives assessment (LCAA) for chemical substitution

“…6,18 Thus, time-and resource-efficient approaches are needed, building on high-throughput methods to integrate enhanced exposure, hazard and life cycle data, and taking advantage of increasingly available big datasets for chemicals in consumer products. 6,7,10,18 Such approaches need to start from the chemical in-product function, 18 build on consistent mass balances, 23,25 include realistic product composition and use information, 26 consider competing fate and exposure processes and pathways, 27 use efficient data curation and extrapolation methods 28,29 as well as data analysis and visualization techniques. 30,31 Finally, a single assessment level, where impacts are aggregated and where an overall score is calculated (as e.g.…”

“…However, current frameworks suffer from inconsistencies in data and models applied, from relying on qualitative or semi-quantitative indicators, and from the lack of effectively and efficiently addressing exposure and life cycle impacts. 4,[6][7][8][9][10] More specifically, quantifying exposure to chemicals in consumer products, and evaluating life cycle impacts associated with for example climate change, human and ecosystem toxicity, and water resources use, are commonly considered too complex and time-consuming. 11,12 History shows that ignoring the quantification of the various exposures and life cycle impacts may leave important trade-offs and problem-shifting unaddressed and can thus lead to regrettable substitutions.…”

High Throughput Risk and Impact Screening of Chemicals in Consumer Products

“…This emphasizes the importance to include the use of household consumer products in survey such as National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, in order to be able to perform epidemiological studies of the impacts of their ingredients. It also calls for more scrutiny from a regulatory perspective, in order to ensure the same level of safety that has been implemented for limiting pesticide residues in products (in e.g., banning diazinon from residentially used products as discussed above), applying systematically alternatives assessment approaches (Fantke & Illner, 2019; Tickner et al., 2019) to substitute in priority chemicals with highest potential impacts. Finally, at the user level, the magnitude of potential impacts calls for the use of protective measures, such as the systematic usage of gloves when cleaning, the use of respiratory protective masks when using home maintenance products such as paint or paint strippers containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and the reduction of the applied quantities of chemicals as body lotions, by using more natural products such as coconut oil for moisturizing purposes, for example.…”

The nexus between alternatives assessment and green chemistry: supporting the development and adoption of safer chemicals

“…However, these methods tend to address average exposures based on emissions, may not adequately address the range of hazard endpoints and impacts at the individual level (29), and can be resource and time intensive. Although approaches to assess lifecycle impacts are starting to be developed for use in alternatives assessment (30)(31)(32)(33), there is currently a lack of agreement on how to integrate these considerations systematically and consistently into the approach (3,29).…”

“…A number of key barriers still hinder the effectiveness of alternatives assessment in practice (3). To date, most alternatives assessments have been reactive, responding to regulatory or market pressures to substitute.…”