Screening level approach to support companies in making safe and sustainable by design decisions at the early stages of innovation
Publication category: Article
Publication date: July 3, 2023
Authors: Lisa Pizzol , Arianna Livieri , Beatrice Salieri , Lucian Farcal , Lya G. Soeteman-Hernández, Hubert Rauscher, Alex Zabeo, Magda Blosi , Anna Luisa Costa, Willie Peijnenburg, Stella Stoycheva, Neil Hunt, Maria José López-Tendero, Castor Salgado, Julian J. Reinosa, Jose F. Fernández, Danail Hristozov
Abstract: The European Green Deal policy ambitions set out in the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and the Zero Pollution Action Plan identify the transition to a Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) approach to chemicals and materials. The H2020 SUNSHINE project has developed an approach to operationalize SSbD, specifically addressing multi-component nanomaterials (MCNMs), and applied it to two case studies. This approach enables assessment of safety and sustainability aspects at each stage of product development from a lifecycle perspective. This is achieved via a tiered approach that uses qualitative (Tier 1), semi-quantitative (Tier 2) and quantitative (Tier 3) assessment methods. The present work focuses on the Tier 1 (self-assessment) methodology designed to evaluate the safety, functionality and sustainability in the early R&D stages of the lifecycle of chemicals and materials. This approach was developed to be implementable by industries in a straightforward manner as often there is lack of time and/or expertise to engage in resource-intensive safety and sustainability evaluations. The approach was tested using two real industrial case studies, namely nano-enabled PFAS (Polyfluoroalkyl substances)-free anti-sticking coating for bakery molds, and nano-drops of essential oil anchored to the surface of nano clays and encapsulated in a polymeric film. The results indicate that these innovative materials have a high probability to have better safety, functionality and sustainability performance compared to conventional benchmark materials.
