Green Chemistry Initiatives
The green chemistry movement is gaining momentum as societal concern about toxic chemical effects mount. The movement seeks to align science, the environment, and economics to create more innovative, efficient and safer product and business designs. As defined by the USEPA, Green Chemistry (or sustainable chemistry) is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances. Green Chemistry applies across the entire life cycle of a chemical product, including its design, manufacture, use and disposal.
Green Chemistry initiatives typically require very diverse technical and business solutions. Green Chemistry, Green Marketing and other variants of these terms represent issues increasingly challenging to the chemical supply chains across all business sectors—particularly for organizations with sophisticated, global networks. Managing and responding to issues; coordinating processes, communications and decisions; and gaining consensus among multiple parties throughout the supply chain can be very difficult and complex. Depending on the region of the world being considered, the path to solutions becomes even more complicated as various scientific and regional policy issues come into play.
Changes on the Horizon
The use of the term Green Chemistry has been quite broad with many interpretations. Until very recently there has been no consensus definition or singular set of standards regarding the term “Green.” That may change soon as California moves closer to regulating Green Chemistry. In November 2010, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (“DTSC”) released revisions to its Proposed Safer Alternatives for Consumer Products Regulations (“Revised Proposed Regulations”), in response to comments received since the proposed regulations were first issued in September 2010. Stakeholders had until December 3, 2010, to comment on the revised regulations, which are on track to be adopted by DTSC by January 1, 2011.
The proposed regulations define the requirements for the identification and prioritization of chemicals of concern in consumer products, evaluation of their alternatives, and regulatory responses for selected alternatives. This proposal includes useful changes that reduce the scope and burden of the regulations, but a broad array of products remains covered. The full text of the proposed regulations and other background information can be found by clicking here.
In determining the potential impact on of these regulations on a business and/or specific products, it is important to understand the scope of the potential list of chemicals of concern. As currently defined, the California list includes a chemical if it is found on multiple regulatory and classifying organization lists. Collectively, these listings and descriptions capture in excess of 1,000 chemicals. Click here to view a representation of the list.
This list provides a representative overview of potential chemicals of concern identified by virtue of their presence on one or more of the regulatory enforcement lists identified in the draft regulations. Note that a single chemical may be identified more than once if the compound poses more than one hazard trait. Additionally, there is substantial overlap between the existing regulatory lists, which will also result in duplicate listings of a chemical.
| Why Cardno ENTRIX? | |
Cardno ENTRIX can help clients begin the process of understanding the regulatory process being proposed, the potential impact on your business and products, and help firms begin planning for compliance and the anticipated need for supplier and customer communication. Cardno ENTRIX has extensive experience and expertise in scientific and chemical management policy issues, and our scientists have worked with, analyzed or studied a wide range of chemicals and products. Furthermore, our portfolio of multi-disciplinary experts spans human health toxicology, ecotoxicology, environmental chemistry, risk assessment, and industrial hygiene. Our scientific strengths are complemented by teams of our in-house business solutions experts, economists, communication and litigation support experts who are experienced in working collaboratively and side-by-side to meet our clients’ unique needs. |
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If your organization has specific questions or would like to discuss these topics further, please contact Tom Grumbles, Senior Consultant at 713.662.1991 or email him by clicking here. |
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