Scoring scheme for Comparative Ranking of impact potential of chemical Alternatives (SCoRA)

Environmental Sciences Europe

Research

Monika Nendza¹  Silke Gabbert²  Michael Klein³  Stefan Hahn⁴  Ursula Klaschka⁵ 

[1] Analytical Laboratory AL-Luhnstedt, Bahnhofstraße 1, 24816, Luhnstedt, Germany;Centre for the Safety of Substances and Products, Department of Industrial Chemicals and Environmental Economics, RIVM, Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9, 3720 BA, Bilthoven, The Netherlands;Fraunhofer IME, Auf dem Aberg 1, 57392, Schmallenberg, Germany;Fraunhofer ITEM, Nikolai-Fuchs-Str.1, 30625, Hannover, Germany;University of Applied Sciences, Ulm (THU), Prittwitzstraße 10, 89075, Ulm, Germany;

关键词: Alternatives assessment;    Prevention of regrettable substitution;    Fingerprinting of concerns;    Pollution stock levels representing spatial and temporal dimensions of exposure;    REACH;    Uncertainties about long-term impacts;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12302-023-00718-3

 received in 2022-11-29, accepted in 2023-02-04,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundReplacing hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives is essential for a toxic-free environment. To avoid regrettable substitution, a comparison of the entire spectrum of potential impacts of the candidate for substitution with those of the available alternatives is required. A particular challenge is to also capture yet unknown long-term impacts of (very) persistent chemicals, including but not limited to PBT and CMR properties.ResultsFor a flexible and transparent comparative ranking of the impact potential of chemical alternatives, we propose a concern-based scoring scheme (Scoring scheme for Comparative Ranking of chemical Alternatives, SCoRA). The approach accounts for hazards due to ecotoxicity in water/sediment and soil, and effects on human health such as CMR properties and endocrine disruption. This is combined with exposure-related information in terms of expected environmental pollution stock levels. The SCoRA approach is illustrated with case study chemicals of very high concern (15 SVHC, mostly PBT, representing different chemical classes with different modes of bioaccumulation and toxicity). A comparison of PBT substances reveals that SCoRA goes well beyond binary screening criteria (PBT: yes/no), showing that PBT substances are all of very high concern, although their impact profiles can be substantially different. Ordinal scores support a detailed characterisation of their potential for long-term impacts. Furthermore, SCoRA enables a coherent comparative assessment of substances with different primary concerns, for example PBTness and endocrine disruption.ConclusionsSCoRA complements existing and established tools such as comparative risk assessment. It is particularly useful, when, for example, only limited data are available or when risk assessment is not feasible, as in the case of persistent chemicals. A strength of SCoRA is that the relative contributions of the impact components determining the concern can be visualised with a heatmap and fingerprints. This facilitates communication among scientists, regulators, risk managers, stakeholders and the public.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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