Is the chemistry safer? We’re excited about displacing fossil fuels as the feedstocks for plastics. Recent research in the UK demonstrates that plastics can be made out of chemicals extracted from lignin – a hydrocarbon that provides structural support in trees and other plants. As a wood products industry waste product, lignin could be an abundant and low-cost source material for bioplastics. As always our questions are, what are the chemicals being made from lignin? And are they… …
Are the alternatives to HBCD safer? The US EPA’s Design for Environment program released its final report identifying alternatives to the flame retardant HBCD (hexabromocyclododecane). A persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic (PBT) chemical with adverse reproductive, developmental, and neurological effects, HBCD presents significant environmental and human health concerns. The “safer” alternative identified by EPA, butadiene styrene brominated copolymer, has the advantage of being… …
What are the societal costs of hazardous chemicals? A report from the European NGO, Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), finds that exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in products and food may cost the EU up to €31 billion (more than $42 billion) annually. The calculation is based on costs of treating hormone-related health problems that include diabetes and obesity, reproductive and fertility problems, children’s neurological disorders and certain cancers. HEAL is… …
Who thought it was a good idea to put small, plastic beads that last forever in products that go down the drain? Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed the nation’s first bill banning the manufacture and sale synthetic plastic microbeads in personal care products and non-prescription drugs. Several other states are considering such bills and several major manufacturers – Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal and Unilever among them – are already working on phase-outs. Small enough… …
Europeans continue to expect government leadership on toxic chemicals. France has told the EU: It’s time to act. There is ample scientific evidence that endocrine disrupting chemicals are harming human health. Disagreements and delays on defining EDCs prompted Sweden to file suit against the European Commission in hopes of spurring action. France says a definition should be based on chemicals’ intrinsic hazards rather than dose. …
On the path to halogen-free products … Sportswear manufacturer Adidas announced that its products will be 90% perfluorinated and polyfluorinated chemical (PFC) free by June 15, 2014, 99% PFC-free by 2017 and 100% PFC-free by 2020 – and free of all long-chain PFCs by January 1, 2015. PFCs are used to make clothing and shoes resist dirt and water but these environmentally persistent compounds are known to have adverse health impacts, including on immune, reproductive, and hormonal… …
Companies participating in the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals Program (ZDHC) have commited to limiting discharges of about 150 hazardous chemicals used in manufacturing. The companies have already agreed to eliminate nonylphenols, halogenated flame retardants, heavy metals, phthalates, PFCs, tributyltin compounds and numerous VOCs among other hazardous chemicals from their finished products. The goal is to eliminate these chemicals entirely from their supply chains by 2020.… …
Panera Bread announced that food served in its 1800 bakery-cafés will be free of artificial additives by the end of 2016. Panera says this decision is part of its ongoing commitment to clean ingredients and transparency. Artificial trans fats, caramel coloring, and various fillers, dyes, preservatives, sweeteners and flavor enhancers are among the chemicals being eliminated. Panera said “Millenials'” interest in health was instrumental in prompting this move and that… …
Are flame retardants necessary for furniture? Acting in response to the association of flame retardants with cancer, reproductive, developmental and other adverse health effects, Kaiser Permanente announced it will no longer buy furniture containing such chemicals. The move, facilitated by California’s new furniture flammability standard (TB 117-2013), may well catalyze the elimination of unnecessary flame retardants. With furniture purchases of $30 million a year and a leader in the… …
The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) is calling for reduced exposure – particularly for pregnant women and in the workplace – to three widely used chemicals recognized as reproductive toxicants: toluene, n-hexane and cis-CTAC (used as a preservative) – and two, identified as endocrine disrupting chemicals: the gasoline additive MBTE and o-phenylphenol (used in disinfectants and as a preservative). The Agency’s… …