Insights from Life Cycle Assessment to Inform Chemical Substitution, Alternatives Assessment and Safe and Sustainable-by-Design.

ABSTRACT: Designing chemicals and pharmaceuticals with optimal properties yet minimal negative effects on humans and the environment remains challenging. Chemical substitution enables us to address this challenge but requires significant methodological advancements and testing to become mature and more widely adopted worldwide. We use insights from life cycle assessment (LCA) to explore and synthesize synergies for advancing substitution approaches, including alternatives assessment and comparative safe and sustainable-by-design (SSbD). We screen boundary conditions for LCA and substitution and use an illustrative case study on comparing two sets of pest control options to discuss learnings for addressing challenges toward a mature chemical substitution field. For some aspects, LCA provides strong i

SUBMITTER: Fantke P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12825154 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature