2026-10-14T09:57:55Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33815746 2026-09-15T18:09:22Z category_4 category_873 category_39 category_69 category_133 portal_63 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Screening Chemical Alternatives with Limited Ecotoxicity Data To Support Safe and Sustainable by Design Innovation Elisabetta Abbate (24950818) Selwyn Hoeks (5879963) Leo Posthuma (1704316) Ad M. J. Ragas (9591066) Serenella Sala (1357776) Mark A. J. Huijbregts (8495118) Biochemistry Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified Ecology Inorganic Chemistry Plant Biology species sensitivity distributions life cycle assessment european commission ’ ecotoxicity effect factors support transparent decision specifically acting chemicals analyzed 132 chemicals screening chemical alternatives chronic data showed limited ecotoxicity data ecotoxicity data replacing chronic limited influence chemical screening taxonomic coverage stage screening reduction scenarios often constrained lowest uncertainty large uncertainties eight data design framework crustaceans ), calculation method best agreement advancing safety Enabling effective early-stage screening of chemicals is essential for advancing safety and sustainability, as highlighted by the European Commission’s Safe and Sustainable by Design framework. However, such screening is often constrained by the limitedavailability of ecotoxicity data. Here, we investigate how chemical screening can be performed under data-limitedconditions. We analyzed 132 chemicals with extensive chronic ecotoxicity data and derived Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) metricsEnvironmental Threshold Concentrations (ETCs) and Ecotoxicity Effect Factors (EEFs). Eight data-reduction scenarios were compared with a data-rich reference, varying (i) acute versus chronic endpoints, (ii) taxonomic coverage (single species vs three trophic levels: algae-fish-crustaceans), and (iii) calculation method. Across ERA and LCA, the scenario including three trophic levels and chronic data showed the lowest uncertainty and best agreement with the reference. Single-species scenarios introduced substantial uncertainty, particularly for specifically acting chemicals. Replacing chronic with acute data increased uncertainty only moderately. For ERA, ETCs from the lowest toxicity value aligned more closely with the reference than ETCs from species sensitivity distributions. For LCA, the calculation method had limited influence on EEFs. Our approach can support transparent decision-making for the safe and sustainable design of chemicals, where large uncertainties are unavoidable. 2026-09-15T00:00:00Z Dataset Dataset 10.1021/acs.est.6c02685.s002 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Screening_Chemical_Alternatives_with_Limited_Ecotoxicity_Data_To_Support_Safe_and_Sustainable_by_Design_Innovation/33815746 CC BY-NC 4.0