Ongoing Task Force

Targeted Sustainability Tool (ECETOC TST): Tier 1 tool for safety dimension assessment under the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework

Why

In the European Green Deal, the European Commission has laid out its plan to achieve a “toxic-free environment” (COM, 2019, 2020). The centrepiece of this plan is to encourage the use and development of safe and sustainable by design (SSbD) chemicals.

The JRC (2022) has developed a framework to assess SSbD. The objective of the SSbD concept is to integrate safety, health, environmental, economic and social considerations with functionality requirements in the development of chemicals and materials across the innovation process. However, for all four dimensions the necessary methods and tools are currently, for the most part, lacking.

Currently, SSbD criteria and methodology is translated into a toolbox guiding the user across the innovation stages under the Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) programme to enable operationalization of the SSbD framework (PARC, 2023). However, the full toolbox developed via PARC may not be available for the foreseeable future. The PARC project team is focusing on developing higher-tier, catch-all, and complex tools, which take time to develop. Additionally, the focus is on innovation process and the development of tools for the assessment of novel substances, with much less emphasis on improving existing mixture compositions or implementing (more) effective risk management measures for existing substances/mixtures/formulations/articles.

In line with the ECETOC TRA tool developed for REACH exposure and risk assessments, there is a demand for a practical Tier I tool for the safety aspect of SSbD assessment, with a particular emphasis placed on improving mixture compositions and implementing (more) effective risk management measures. Such a tool should ideally be accessible within a short timeframe, preferably 1-2 years, and is essential to ensure feasibility of SSbD assessments and to explore the relevance of the assessments results.

 

Objectives

  • Development of a widely accepted pragmatic excel-based Tier 1 tool to assess a chemical, mixture, formulation and/or article for the SSbD safety dimension, allowing the comparison of substances/mixtures/formulations/articles and helping identify the most suitable sustainable alternatives.
  • Create and publish a user guide (Practical user guide/tutorial/ FAQ)

 

Timeline and Deliverables

Work started in July 2024 and the Task Force plans to have a functional but internal-only prototype ready by early 2025. Full release of the tool and user guidance is expected to be ready by Q4 2025, beginning of Q5 2025.