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.