Development of a framework for risk tradeoff analysis associated with substitution of chemical substances

— An approach to risk assessment using relative comparison —

Abstract

A chemical substance is often substituted for another to reduce risks caused by the original substance. However, the replacement may be associated with new risks, which introduces a risk tradeoff problem. Although the concept of risk tradeoff analysis has been proposed, no feasible method has been developed. In this study a new assessment method was proposed based on relative risk comparison among substances through an examination of some possible approaches. Case studies were also conducted to assess the efficacy of this method.