Supporting Integrated Chemical Risk Management: Aligning Safe and Sustainable by Design and EU Ecolabel Decision
1Faculty of Engineering, Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal.
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management
|August 6, 2026
Summary
Differences in assessment logic, not science, cause policy divergence. Integrating regulatory risk and life-cycle toxicity enhances chemical safety and sustainability decisions.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Chemical Safety
- Sustainability Assessment
Background:
- Policy frameworks like Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) and EU Ecolabel aim for chemical safety and sustainability.
- These frameworks can yield different conclusions for the same product, hindering consistent decision-making.
- Need for understanding divergences between assessment logic and scientific evidence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate divergences between SSbD and EU Ecolabel assessments for a consumer product.
- To determine if differences stem from assessment logic or conflicting scientific data.
- To propose a model for reconciling results across different assessment frameworks.
Main Methods:
- Applied an integrated assessment approach combining regulatory risk characterization and life-cycle toxicity prioritization.
- Quantified occupational and environmental risks using Chesar® and EUSES 2.1.2.
- Evaluated human toxicity and freshwater ecotoxicity impacts using USEtox® characterization factors.
Main Results:
- Regulatory risk assessment showed most scenarios met acceptability thresholds, with minor exceedances for Cocamidopropyl betaine under specific occupational exposure.
- Life-cycle toxicity indicators highlighted significant differences in substance contributions to impacts, based on intrinsic hazard and fate.
- Apparent inconsistencies between SSbD and EU Ecolabel are mainly due to differing decision logic, scope, and data weighting.
Conclusions:
- Divergences between SSbD and EU Ecolabel primarily arise from differences in assessment logic and scope.
- Integrating regulatory risk assessment with life-cycle toxicity indicators can improve chemical risk management.
- A conceptual model can support transparent interpretation and reconciliation of results across environmental assessment frameworks.
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