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Integrating Exposure into Chemical Alternatives Assessment Using a Qualitative Approach
Citation:
Greggs, B., S. Arnold, T. Burns, P. Egeghy, P. Fantke, B. Gaborek, L. Heine, O. Jolliet, D. Muir, J. Rinkevich, N. Sunger, J. Tanir, AND M. Whittaker. Integrating Exposure into Chemical Alternatives Assessment Using a Qualitative Approach. 2016 Annual International Society of Exposure Science Meeting, Utrecht, NETHERLANDS, October 09 - 13, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
Building on the 2014 recommendations by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences to improve Alternatives Assessment decisions by including comparative exposure assessment, the HESI Sustainable Chemical Alternatives Technical Committee, which consists of scientists from academia, industry, government, and NGOs, has developed a qualitative comparative exposure approach.
Description:
Most alternatives assessments (AA) published to date are largely hazard-based rankings, and as such may not represent a fully informed consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of possible alternatives. With an assessment goal of identifying an alternative chemical that is more sustainable, other attributes beyond hazard are also important, including exposure, risk, life-cycle impacts, performance, cost, and social responsibility. Building on the 2014 recommendations by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences to improve AA decisions by including comparative exposure assessment, the HESISustainable Chemical Alternatives Technical Committee, which consists of scientists from academia, industry, government, and NGOs, has developed a qualitative comparative exposure approach. Conducting such a comparison can screen for alternatives that are expected to have a higher exposure potential, which could trigger a higher-tiered, more quantitative exposure assessment on the alternatives being considered. This talk will demonstrate an approach for including chemical- and product-related exposure information in a qualitative AA comparison. Starting from existing hazard AAs, a series of four chemical-product application scenarios were examined to test the concept, to understand the effort required, and to determine the value of exposure data in AA decision-making. The group has developed a classification approach for ingredient and product parameters to support comparisons between alternatives as well as methodology to address data quality. The ingredient parameters include a range of physicochemical properties that can impact routes and magnitude of exposure, while the product parameters include aspects such as exposure pathways, use pattern, frequency/durationof use, chemical concentration in product, and use volume, accessibility, and disposal.
