Towards Safer Advanced Materials: A Case Study Investigation through the EU-JRC SSbD Framework

With the increasing use of Advanced Materials (AdMa) in industrial sectors and in the development of more innovative products, it has become essential to adopt a structured approach for evaluating their safety and sustainability. In this context, the European Commission, through the Joint Research Centre (JRC), has developed the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework. This strategy aims to integrate, from the earliest stages of design, the prevention of risks to human health and the environment throughout the entire life cycle of materials and chemical substances. The SSbD framework is structured into various steps concerning safety and sustainability assessment. The objective of this thesis was to apply the safety dimension of the SSbD framework to a selection of AdMa, identified within the Horizon Europe SUNRISE project, to support the JRC in implementing the SSbD framework. To address the challenges of assessing AdMas safety in their design phase, this work leverages a qualitative self-assessment methodology developed by the EU's Horizon 2020 SUNSHINE project for multicomponent nanomaterials. Implemented as a questionnaire-based tool, the methodology is designed to identify and visualize gaps in a material's safety and sustainability profile across its entire lifecycle. The questionnaire allows for the comparison of various design alternatives, including potential reference materials or conventional solutions with similar functions, thereby driving companies towards the most promising safe and sustainable solutions. The questionnaire contains 150 questions in total, with 64 specifically focused on safety. Companies often struggle to answer this extensive set of safety-related questions. To make the process more efficient, this work has helped reduce the number of questions to a more manageable 17, while still covering all relevant aspects of the life cycle of an advanced material. (AdMa). Also, the main feature of these 17 questions is that they can open sub-questions. An undertaking is therefore required to answer those sub-questions only if its answer to the main question satisfies certain conditions. This conditional structure helps businesses focus on the most relevant information without being overwhelmed. Subsequently, to validate the reduced questionnaire, it was applied to a real case study involving the use of titanium dioxide nanomaterials for the production of innovative sunscreens. The aim is to exploit the reflective properties of TiO2 nanomaterials while reducing their toxicological effects. This case study proposes two innovative materials, referred to as TiO2@SS and C10 and C11, which are based on two different titanium sources (P25 titanium dioxide nanoparticles and Ti-isopropoxide) and functionalized with surfactin, a lipopeptide biosurfactant obtained from Bacillus subtilis fermentation. To assess the safety of these AdMa within the SSbD framework, we focused on the synthesis and use phases. We then established a physicochemical characterization plan to evaluate key safety aspects based on identified exposure scenarios. This included investigating the materials' morphological characteristics and their behavior in relevant media, such as seawater, fresh water, artificial sweat, and artificial saliva. Data obtained are used to support both (eco)toxicological testings and SSbD strategies.