From PFAS Pressure to Practical Substitution: Best Practices, Evidence Workflows and Safer Alternatives

PFAS substitution is rapidly becoming a practical priority for companies facing evolving regulatory requirements, customer expectations, litigation risk and growing demands for safer and more sustainable products. Yet removing a PFAS from a formulation is only the beginning. The greater challenge is identifying alternatives that maintain technical performance while avoiding regrettable substitution, hidden lifecycle impacts and future regulatory liabilities.

This SaferWorldbyDesign webinar will focus on the practical application of evidence-based substitution. It will present best practices, methods and solution approaches for structuring PFAS substitution projects from initial problem formulation through alternative identification, comparative assessment, decision-making and implementation.

Participants will be introduced to integrated workflows that bring together chemical hazard, exposure and toxicokinetic information, product performance, lifecycle and sustainability considerations, regulatory requirements and business constraints. The webinar will also examine how FAIR data, computational methods, New Approach Methodologies, mechanistic evidence and transparent AI-assisted workflows can support more efficient and defensible decisions while maintaining expert judgement and human oversight. Practical case-study examples will illustrate how candidate alternatives can be screened, compared and prioritised; how evidence gaps and uncertainties can be made explicit; and how decisions can be documented in a reproducible form that supports communication with scientists, engineers, customers, auditors and regulators.

The central message is that successful PFAS substitution is not simply a chemical replacement exercise. It is a structured innovation and decision process. By applying Safe and Sustainable by Design principles early, organisations can reduce risk, accelerate product development and turn regulatory pressure into an opportunity for safer innovation and long-term competitive advantage.

Speakers: 

Barry Hardy (Edelweiss Connect)

Dr. Barry Hardy is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Edelweiss Connect, where he is leading its team supporting the development of new integrating solutions in industrial product design and safety assessment and the translation of research methods to industrial practice. Recent commercial developments include the creation of the SaferWorldbyDesign platform (https://www.saferworldbydesign.com/), and the development of the SaferSkin (https://saferworldbydesign.com/saferskin/) and EdelweissData products (https://saferworldbydesign.com/edelweissdata/). He is currently leading the development of risk assessment knowledge infrastructure and solutions, including new approach methods, SaferbyDesign, sustainability, and next-generation risk assessment solutions (https://www.risk-hunt3r.eu).