A plea for the integration of Green Toxicology in sustainable bioeconomy strategies – Biosurfactants and microgel-based pesticide release systems as examples

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials Vol. 426; p. 127800
• Main Authors: Johann, Sarah, Weichert, Fabian G., Schröer, Lukas, Stratemann, Lucas, Kämpfer, Christoph, Seiler, Thomas-Benjamin, Heger, Sebastian, Töpel, Alexander, Sassmann, Tim, Pich, Andrij, Jakob, Felix, Schwaneberg, Ulrich, Stoffels, Peter, Philipp, Magnus, Terfrüchte, Marius, Loeschcke, Anita, Schipper, Kerstin, Feldbrügge, Michael, Ihling, Nina, Büchs, Jochen, Bator, Isabel, Tiso, Till, Blank, Lars M., Roß-Nickoll, Martina, Hollert, Henner
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 15.03.2022
• Subjects: Acute toxicity; Agriculture; Animals; Aquatic models; Bioassays; Ecotoxicology; Fishes; Green Chemistry; Green Engineering; Hazardous Substances; Humans; Mechanism-specific toxicity; Microgels; Pesticides - toxicity; QSAR; Terrestrial models; Green Engineering; QSAR; Aquatic models; Bioassays; Mechanism-specific toxicity; Green Chemistry; Agriculture; Terrestrial models; Acute toxicity
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127800

A key aspect of the transformation of the economic sector towards a sustainable bioeconomy is the development of environmentally friendly alternatives for hitherto used chemicals, which have negative impacts on environmental health. However, the implementation of an ecotoxicological hazard assessment at early steps of product development to elaborate the most promising candidates of lowest harm is scarce in industry practice. The present article introduces the interdisciplinary proof-of-concept project GreenToxiConomy, which shows the successful application of a Green Toxicology strategy for biosurfactants and a novel microgel-based pesticide release system. Both groups are promising candidates for industrial and agricultural applications and the ecotoxicological characterization is yet missing important information. An iterative substance- and application-oriented bioassay battery for acute and mechanism-specific toxicity within aquatic and terrestrial model species is introduced for both potentially hazardous materials getting into contact with humans and ending up in the environment. By applying in silico QSAR-based models on genotoxicity, endocrine disruption, skin sensitization and acute toxicity to algae, daphnids and fish, individual biosurfactants resulted in deviating toxicity, suggesting a pre-ranking of the compounds. Experimental toxicity assessment will further complement the predicted toxicity to elaborate the most promising candidates in an efficient pre-screening of new substances. [Display omitted] •Interdisciplinary project (GreenToxiConomy) on new bioeconomic high-value products.•Proof-of-concept study on the applicability of Green Toxicology in bioeconomy.•Development of an application-oriented bioassay battery for early hazard assessment.•QSAR-based toxicity prediction differentiates compounds of deviating toxicity.•Experimental toxicity assessment will identify most promising candidates.