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What does the work of Clean Production Action mean to Black communities?

February 15, 2024 Kayla Williams Clean Production Action Blogs

February is Black History Month, as well as National Cancer Prevention Month. Consistent with Clean Production Action’s mission of designing and delivering strategic solutions for replacing toxic chemicals with safer alternatives, we recognize the historic disenfranchisement of Black communities and the disproportionate negative impacts of toxic chemicals in products on Black people. Because of this, Black people have higher rates of cancer diagnosis and cancer-related deaths than other racial groups. This is just one example of the cumulative negative impacts of a society, culture, and economy rooted in systemic racial and environmental injustice.

While Clean Production Action is not an environmental justice organization, we believe our networks and programs can contribute to the efforts of Black and brown environmental justice leaders engaging companies in changing their behavior to reduce the use of toxic chemicals to which vulnerable populations are disproportionately exposed. 

Clean Production Action understands that the dependence of markets on hazardous chemicals, like Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), is rooted in systemic racism and injustice, with fenceline communities facing multiple cumulative health hazards. There are thousands of chemicals circulating marketplaces, and more and more are introduced every year. Regulations with their typical focus on setting minimum safety requirements are falling behind in protecting public health, even more so for these vulnerable fenceline communities. PFAS, known as ‘forever chemicals,’ are one example of chemicals that are used in a wide variety of consumer products with very little regulation and  threaten human and environmental health on a wide scale that disproportionately impacts communities of color.

PFAS have seen a tremendous breakthrough in mainstream news because of the adverse effects they can have on individuals, communities, and the environment. PFAS are extremely persistent in the environment with the result that most of us have PFAS in our blood. PFAS have been linked to higher cholesterol, liver toxicity, thyroid disease, reproductive toxicity, and pregnancy concerns like preeclampsia and cancer, which present in higher case numbers for Black communities.

While PFAS found in drinking water is a nationwide concern as an exposure source, the burden of this toxic chemical exposure is not equal. A recent study led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found people who live in communities with higher proportions of Black and Hispanic/Latino residents are more likely to be exposed to harmful levels of PFAS in their water supplies than people living in other communities. This, in turn, is linked to the disproportionate citing of sources of PFAS pollution—such as major manufacturers, airports, military bases, wastewater treatment plants, and landfills in low-income communities and communities of color. Communities living near these facilities face disproportionate cumulative exposure to toxic chemicals like PFAS due to their proximity. 

Clean Production Action launched GreenScreen Certified® in 2017 to reduce exposure to hazardous chemicals, including PFAS and thousands of other chemicals of concern across the entire product lifecycle (see figure below). For example, when a consumer disposes a product at the end of its useful life, it may go to a landfill, incinerator, or commercial composting facility. In a landfill, PFAS from products leach into groundwater and enter our drinking water supply.  At a commercial composting facility, products containing PFAS break down into compost that ends up being spread on crops, where PFAS is taken up by plants and ends up in our food and our bodies.  At an incinerator, products containing PFAS are burned at temperatures that are too low to destroy PFAS. Instead, PFAS are released into the air in nearby communities. 

A risk-based approach to chemicals of concern to reduce exposure and pollution has proven to be inadequate. GreenScreen® for Safer Chemicals uses a hazard-based approach that is inherently more protective of human and environmental health. By preventing the use of intentionally added PFAS and other chemicals of concern in the first place, GreenScreen Certified products prevent exposures that disproportionately impact low-income communities and communities of color.

GreenScreen Certified products also reduce chemical exposures to communities, workers, and consumers. Clean Production Action developed the world’s first ecolabel for firefighting foam because it is a major source of PFAS contamination in drinking water and a direct source of hazardous chemical exposure for firefighters. The range of products covered by GreenScreen Certified is large, including: 

  • cleaners and degreasers used by factory workers, 
  • firefighting foams released into the environment, 
  • single-use food service ware like paper plates, 
  • furniture and fabrics found in homes and workplaces, 
  • medical supplies and devices used in hospitals, and 
  • chemicals used in making textiles that may be released directly into water sources.  

Our newest GreenScreen Certified Standard for Reusable Food Packaging, Food Service Ware, & Cookware promotes the use of reusable products and materials, and ensures they use environmentally preferred chemistries.

Low-income communities and communities of color need more protections in the wake of climate change and chemical pollution. GreenScreen Certified helps ensure products are not adding to the problem of PFAS and other toxic chemicals in already overburdened communities, and helps drive the market towards safer products. 

GreenScreen Certified products are free of intentionally added PFAS and thousands of other chemicals of concern to reduce human and environmental health impacts throughout the entire product lifecycle. Vulnerable populations are most protected from exposure to PFAS when companies make the choice to leave out hazardous chemicals like PFAS from product production and supply chains. 

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, social and economic unrest, growing awareness of climate change and other environmental concerns, as well as continuing societal efforts to eliminate racism and address inequities, Clean Production Action launched the BizNGO Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Environmental Justice workgroup in 2021. This working group aims to create solutions for addressing environmental injustice through the business use of toxic chemicals. Since then, the workgroup has drafted a roadmap to establish guidance on how corporations can take an environmental justice approach to chemicals management to protect populations made vulnerable by systemic racism and injustice.

No group of people should bear the disproportionate exposure and burden of harmful chemicals and products, but Black people are at a disproportionately higher risk because of the systemic injustices they face. Chemical safety requires a commitment to preventing environmental damage and DEI & EJ initiatives that promote the health and well-being of all people. Clean Production Action is committed to amplifying why this is necessary and showing how corporate actors can change in favor of creating an economy where no one is subject to exposure to toxic chemicals regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic status. Clean Production Action strongly believes that this joint action will help decrease rates of cancer, infertility, asthma, and learning disabilities among every demographic.

Source: Figure 2 from Duncan A. Rouch, Source: Figure 2 from Duncan A. Rouch, "Fate of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs): modelling source identification and assessment of bioaccumulation and biodegradation," July 2019, DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.29287.68004