Insights

Every European cosmetic, detergent or paint formulator applying for the EU Ecolabel runs into the same wall. The reference document — the Detergent Ingredients Database (DID list) — is organized partly by chemical family and partly by substance, with no clear guidance on which is which. Formulators work from CAS numbers on their Safety Data Sheets; the Ecolabel criteria refer to DID entries. The bridge between the two exists nowhere officially. Each company ends up rebuilding its own mapping, inconsistently, dossier after dossier.

In May 2025, during the SETAC Europe Annual Meeting in Vienna, I presented a perspective that is increasingly shaping the future of chemical management in Europe: the need to better connect Risk Assessment (RA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to support Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) innovation. Although these two disciplines evolved independently, their convergence is now essential for designing chemicals and materials aligned with the EU Green Deal and upcoming sustainability requirements.This article summarises the main messages of that presentation and highlights a decade of work conducted at the Joint Research Centre (JRC), Radboud University and now pursued through Net-Zero Impact.