The Value of Alternatives Assessment

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

About This Article open

Citation: Weis CP. 2016. The value of alternatives assessment. Environ Health Perspect 124:A40; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1611248
E-mail: [e-mail]
The author declares he has no actual or potential competing financial interests.
Final Publication: 1 March 2016

PDF Version (99 KB)
The pages of EHP are replete with studies documenting the potential human health and ecosystem impacts of toxic chemicals. Such research is critical to understanding chemical risks and developing prevention strategies to reduce those risks. Intramural research at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) as well as externally funded studies have led to a better understanding of mechanisms by which toxic chemicals may cause illness along with advanced tools to more rapidly assess risks. As knowledge of the potential impacts of specific chemicals increases, so do market and regulatory pressures to replace those chemicals with safer alternatives.
Regrettable substitutions, implemented without adequate screening, can too quickly enter the market if we neglect to develop processes to evaluate those alternatives. For example, research at the NIEHS has shown that many of the substitutes for certain brominated flame retardants may be as concerning as the chemicals they a...

Source: EHP Research - March 1, 2016 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Web Admin Tags: Editorial March 2016 Source Type: research