I Dreamed About It. I Built It.

For any formulator who has ever wondered whether their ingredients are biodegradable enough, or harmful to aquatic ecosystems — and who doesn't have access to an in-house environmental safety department — the answer is always the same: finding reliable data is a nightmare. Ecotoxicity values, biodegradation rates, PNEC thresholds — the information exists, but it is scattered across dozens of databases, each with its own format, coverage, and access conditions. And even when you find a number, knowing whether it is acceptable, robust, and fit for purpose requires expertise that most formulation teams simply don't have.

For any professional committed to Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) or eco-design more broadly, the single most critical bottleneck is not methodology — it is access to quality data on chemical substances. 

And for any organization pursuing an EU Ecolabel certification? The reality is months of painstaking work — collecting ingredient data, computing CDV scores, cross-referencing the DID List — just to find out whether the formulation even has a chance of meeting the criteria. Months of effort, often before a single decision can be made.

EcoCalc® was built to change this. What used to take weeks — sometimes months — can now be pre-screened in hours.

What Is EcoCalc?

EcoCalc is a Chemical Intelligence Platform that consolidates 21 European and international databases — sourced from regulatory agencies (ECHA, EFSA, JRC), research institutes (RIVM, HESI, NORMAN Network), and peer-reviewed scientific publications — into a single searchable interface. The platform covers physico-chemical properties, biodegradability, ecotoxicity, CLP classification, and environmental fate for over 15,000 substances.

Importantly, EcoCalc is not a repository where any data is dumped into and made available. Every dataset integrated into the platform has been selected, curated, and validated by domain experts. Sources are limited to authoritative regulatory databases and peer-reviewed scientific publications. The objective is not volume for its own sake — it is to ensure that every data point a user retrieve is robust, traceable, and scientifically defensible. EcoCalc does not own the data but makes use of high-quality research peer-reviewed work to select only reliable end points. It remains the responsibility of the final user to make the final decision on which end point to use. 

EcoCalc is not a compliance tool and does not issue certifications. It is a decision-support platform that facilitates the preparatory work preceding any formal certification process. But its ambition goes further: EcoCalc democratizes eco-design. It makes the data and pre-screening tools that were once the preserve of large corporations accessible to SMEs that lack the resources and in-house expertise — so they too can evaluate, improve, and document the environmental profile of their products.

Data Sources and Coverage

The 21 data sources integrated into EcoCalc are organized into six categories:

Ecotoxicity & Environmental Hazard — This is the largest category, with seven sources. The JRC's database provides USEtox characterisation factors and HC20 values for approximately 6,700 substances. Douziech et al. (2024) extends freshwater ecotoxicity coverage with HC20 and Effect Factors for 9,000 organic chemicals. HESI EnviroTox contributes over 80,000 curated aquatic toxicity test records drawn from USEPA's ECOTOX database. The NORMAN Network supplies PNEC values for more than 21,000 emerging substances (excluding QSAR predictions for now). Posthuma et al. (2019) provides Species Sensitivity Distributions for 12,386 chemicals, while van de Meent et al. (2023) offers expected risk and risk quotient data for 1,977 REACH-registered chemicals. Finally, Gustavsson et al. (2017) from the University of Gothenburg contributes environmental hazard assessments derived from REACH registration data.

Regulatory & Classification — Four sources cover the regulatory landscape: ECHA REACH registration data (curated via JRC for over 8,000 substances), ECHA CLP harmonised classifications (4,200 substances), the ChemSec SIN List of Substances of Very High Concern (1,473 chemicals meeting CMR, PBT/vPvB, endocrine disruptor, or PFAS criteria), and ECHA REACH Annex XVII restrictions (1,768 CAS numbers).

Cosmetics & Nomenclature — CosIng (30,000+ substances), INCI nomenclature (4,700 entries), the EU Official Journal cosmetics inventory (2,600 IUPAC names), and OECD chemical categories (794 entries).

Sustainability & Ecolabel — The EU Ecolabel DID List with pre-evaluated toxicity and degradation factors, the Yale Environmental Performance Index, and the Social Progress Index.

Life Cycle Assessment — ADEME Base Empreinte with LCA impact factors, and CITEO REP packaging data.

Food Safety — EFSA OpenFoodTox with 11,324 toxicological reference values (ADI, ARfD, TDI, PNEC, AOEL) for 4,628 substances.

Pre-Screening Modules

Beyond data consolidation, EcoCalc offers pre-screening modules that allow formulators to test their products against specific eco-design frameworks.

The EU Ecolabel modules (for cosmetics, detergents, and paints & varnishes) implement the Critical Dilution Volume (CDV) calculation methodology. Formulators can input their ingredients, and the platform evaluates each component against the DID List reference values, computing ecotoxicity scores and identifying ingredients that may prevent the formulation from meeting Ecolabel thresholds. One of the practical challenges that EcoCalc addresses is the matching between formulation ingredients and DID List entries — a notoriously tedious step. The platform suggests a mapping between ingredient names, DID numbers, and all associated CAS numbers, making it straightforward to link any ingredient in a formulation to its corresponding DID List values. This alone can save hours of manual cross-referencing work. These modules are designed as pre-screening tools: they enable formulators to identify strengths and potential issues early in the development process, well before engaging with the competent bodies that review and grant the Ecolabel. The results are indicative and do not constitute a guarantee of certification — but they provide a solid, data-driven foundation for the work that follows.

The AFNOR Spec 2215 module the implements most of the scoring methodology defined by Green Impact Indexconsortium, which provides a multi-criteria environmental and societal evaluation framework for cosmetic products. The module assesses formulation ingredients across biodegradability, ecotoxicity, and other environmental dimensions, producing an overall sustainability score. As with the Ecolabel modules, this is a pre-screening tool — it gives formulators a reliable early indication of how their product performs against the Spec 2215 criteria, allowing them to iterate and improve before any formal evaluation. The scores produced by EcoCalc are working estimates, not certified results, but they significantly accelerate the formulation optimization process.

A cross-database Search module enables instant retrieval of all available data for any substance by CAS number, EC number, or name — with full source traceability showing exactly which database each data point originates from.

Target Users and Industries

EcoCalc is designed for professionals involved in product formulation and environmental assessment across several sectors: cosmetics and personal care, detergents and cleaning products, paints and coatings, adhesives and sealants, and industrial chemicals more broadly.

The platform is particularly relevant for formulation chemists, toxicologists and ecotoxicologists, regulatory affairs specialists, sustainability managers, and consultants working on eco-design or environmental labelling.

Technical Implementation

EcoCalc is built with Python and Streamlit, running on a dedicated European server. All 21 datasets are loaded at startup, enabling fast cross-database queries without external API dependencies. The platform was developed with the assistance of Claude Code by Anthropic, which proved instrumental in managing the complexity of integrating heterogeneous data sources into a coherent application.

Data Privacy and Confidentiality

EcoCalc has been designed with data confidentiality as a core principle. No formulation data entered by users is stored on the platform — all calculations are performed in real time and discarded at the end of each session. EcoCalc does not retain ingredient lists, composition percentages, or screening results. There is no user forum, no shared workspace, and no community feature where formulation data could be inadvertently exposed. This architecture ensures that proprietary formulations remain strictly confidential, which is a non-negotiable requirement for any professional working in product development. Users can run pre-screening assessments with full confidence that their competitive intelligence never leaves their control.

What's Next

Today, EcoCalc is used as part of my consulting engagements with clients on chemical safety and sustainable formulation. Based on the feedback I'm receiving, I'm considering opening the platform as a subscription-based service in the near future.

Planned enhancements include CLP mixture classification for aquatic toxicity (implementing the summation method from EU Regulation 1272/2008) and expanded CDV integration within the AFNOR Spec 2215 module.

If this resonates with your work — whether you're a formulator, toxicologist, sustainability manager, or R&D professional — I'd love to hear from you. What features would matter most? What data gaps do you struggle with?