Usage Analysis and Multicriteria Alternative Assessment of Alternative Plasticizers: Are They Safer Alternatives?

The widespread adoption of alternative plasticizers (APs)
has raised
global concerns over their environmental and health impacts. An alternative
assessment is required to evaluate the safety of potential alternatives
for hazardous chemicals. This study reports a comprehensive multicriteria
alternative assessment (MCAA) framework that integrates 15 hazard
end points across human health hazards, ecotoxicity, and environmental
fate. By utilizing a hierarchical protocol to harmonize multitiered
data from authoritative global sources, the MCAA assigns definitive
safety ratings from Level 1 (safer) to Level 4 (more hazardous). Using
this MCAA framework, we evaluated 522 currently used plasticizers,
including 296 APs. The results revealed that the plasticizer percentages
in Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 were 4.60%, 12.07%, 38.12%, and 45.21%, respectively.
Time-trend analysis of newly registered plasticizers (2000–2024)
revealed a progressive shift toward safer alternatives, with the proportion
of Levels 1 and 2 compounds increasing from 0% to 66.67%. Mobility
and aquatic toxicities were identified as the key end points with
the highest contributions to the overall hazard, highlighting that
the ecological impacts were historically overlooked compared with
the human health. The MCAA framework provides a scientifically rigorous
protocol to support the environmental and health risk management of
APs.