Replacing the use of harmful chemicals in products, articles or industrial processes has sometimes resulted in substitution with chemicals that are as harmful or even more harmful than the chemicals they have replaced. This process is now commonly referred to as ‘regrettable substitution’. Regrettable substitution has undermined some national and international strategies to reduce the harmful impacts of some chemicals that have been in widespread use. Informed chemical substitution (ICS) is a rapidly developing chemical risk management strategy that aims to ensure harmful chemicals are always replaced by safer chemicals or non-chemical alternatives. ICS aims to break the cycle of regrettable substitution and is therefore an essential element of a sustainable chemicals management strategy.
We have reviewed how the use of safer alternatives to harmful chemicals is supported globally. Our review found that there are several ICS frameworks operating internationally, some of which have been established in Europe and the United States of America since the 1990s. Australia does not have a national ICS framework to support the use of safer chemical alternatives. While the reviewed frameworks consider varying human health and environmental hazards and target different industries and jurisdictions, they all have the following common operating principles: education, collaboration, transparency, expertise, and evaluation.
This review has informed the development of prototype cheminformatics-based tools to support evidence-based ICS, communication products and participation in international fora to contribute to best global practice in developing ICS frameworks. This work has provided a foundation for the development of a flexible, science-based ICS framework that supports safe substitution of harmful chemicals in Australia.