Application of tiered human health and environmental risk assessment to develop safe and sustainable by design perovskite-based devices

Metal halide perovskite materials have gained significant attention in recent years due to their potential energy and lighting applications. They are potentially vital materials for the current energy transition which aims to minimize the dependence on fossil fuels and limited land resources by the increased use of cost-effective and efficient renewable energy sources. The European Green Deal policy, which sets out its ambitions in the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, can help its transition to a Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) development. In this context, we applied the SSbD approach to selected perovskite-based devices which are still in their development state, by assessing potential human health and environmental risks along their life cycle. We applied the SSbD approach in a tiered manner so that it aligns with successive Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) to help the innovators ensuring safety and sustainability aspects throughout the various stages of their product development. Thus, the SSbD assessment began right from the start of the development (TRL 1–2), when there can be (huge) gaps and uncertainty in the product knowledge, up to the later stages of higher TRL when the product knowledge is more abundant and certain. In our assessment, we mainly focused on the human health risk of the perovskite-based devices and considered the implications of environmental emissions of hazardous substances on the human health. We further bring attention to the alternatives which could help mitigate concerns over their safety and sustainability for a responsible technology development and deployment. Results of this study are important to understand the detailed sustainability assessment in which we look at multiple sustainability aspects and its potential future impacts due to technology scale-up in the future. •We assess human health and environmental risks of perovskites over their life cycle.•Application of perovskites in energy harvesting and lighting devices is assessed.•Assessment uses safe and sustainable by design approach in a tiered manner.•Flexibility in the use of available knowledge and data helps adoption by the industry.•Alternatives in material design can mitigate safety and sustainability concerns of the perovskites.