Toward Product Safety and Circularity: Understanding the Information Structure of Global Databases on Chemicals in Products and Articles

Access to information
about chemicals in products and
articles
is critical for supporting enforcement of chemical regulations, assessing
risks from chemicals, allowing informed consumer choices, and enabling
product circularity. In this work, we identified and evaluated available
databases (DBs) on chemicals in products and articles from the literature
using a defined protocol and from European national market surveillance
authorities, nongovernmental agencies, and industrial sector groups
using questionnaires. This is the first comprehensive review of DBs
that provide information about chemicals in products and articles.
A majority of these DBs are heterogeneous in terms of scope, ontologies,
and data structures. Among the 57 identified DBs, 49 identified specific
substances and only 30 reported their concentration in their products.
In addition, 35 DBs included hazard information and 27 DBs provided
safety information about products or chemicals. The analysis highlights
the lack of comprehensive or accessible data on chemicals in products
and articles for most categories of products/articles and jurisdictions.
The limitations of existing DBs were attributed to scattered regulatory
information requirements, a lack of data for unregulated substances,
the complexity of supply chain communication, and confidentiality
issues. In response to these challenges, we identified opportunities
for improving existing information transfer structures and exploring
alternative data sources to promote product and article safety and
circularity.