132c - Implications of the implementation of Safe and Sustainable by design on the occupational exposure assessment

Abstract The European Commission (EC) introduced in 2023 a voluntary framework for the implementation of Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) in the chemical sector. The SSbD concept, is a key element of the EC Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, and recommends industry to integrate safety and sustainability considerations as early as possible into the innovation process. As part of this framework step 2 requires data on occupational exposure to estimate the risk characterization ratio. When measured data is not available modelled data can be used. The assessment of occupational exposure to nanomaterials (NMs) and Advanced Materials (AdMa) is hampered by the complex monitoring strategy that requires the use of multiple and expensive equipment as well as the lack of binding Occupational Exposure Levels in the EU. As a result very few companies do routine monitoring. The use of quantitative models is also limited because the testing and validation of models has only been done for a few tasks (mostly powder handling). The introduction of AdMa with hybrid composition brings new challenges as both the whole entity and their components have to be evaluated. To promote the use of the SSbD there is a need for a simplified affordable strategy that allows routine monitoring where a number of representative measurements can be taken for comparison with indicative OEL in a similar manner to conventional chemicals. This data can be used to populate databases and allow grouping of scenarios and reading across from data rich scenarios to new emerging processes as well as validate existing models for a wider range of tasks.