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Not just BPA: 175 chemicals of concern found in food packaging

A new report from the Food Packaging Forum identifies 175 potentially hazardous substances used legally in food contact materials. According to the report, many of these substances  – chemicals used in food packaging or to produce those… …

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Plastics Scorecard

The Plastics Scorecard v.1.0 offers the first comprehensive method for assessing and reducing chemicals of high concern in plastics. “From baby bottles made with BPA to medical devices made with DEHP, plastics are a surprising source of… …

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California fines Bumble and Bumble, Walmart, and others for VOCs in products

Hair and nail care products are contributing to smog: The California Air Resources Board has fined 19 companies for selling consumer products that violate air quality standards for smog-producing volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The products… …

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“Flame retardants are everywhere”

Plastics in turn, are a leading end use for flame retardants. They’re found in penguins and in mothers, breast milk and children across the United States; in household dust, ordinary supermarket food and in virtually every geographic location… …

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Plastics Scorecard

The Plastics Scorecard demonstrates how companies need to pay attention to the chemicals in plastics and the end of life impacts of plastics. For companies looking to reduce their environmental footprint, including their use of hazardous… …

Plastics Scorecard Press Release

Plastics Scorecard ranks popular plastics Businesses praise new tool to assess “chemical footprint” of plastic Free Webinar on Plastics Scorecard will take place Tuesday, July 1, 11 a.m. ET.  (Somerville, Massachusetts) By switching… …

5 steps to reduce the chemical footprint of plastic products

By switching the type of plastic used in its IV bags, Dignity Health care system kept 700,000 pounds of high-concern chemicals — the equivalent in weight of a Boeing 747 airplane — out of the environment, according to BizNGO's new… …

Washington State finds “regrettable flame retardant substitutions”

Why companies need to do hazard assessments of alternatives … Testing for flame retardants in general consumer and children’s products by the state’s Department of Ecology found many “regrettable substitutions.” … …

US EPA releases final TCE risk assessment—2nd final assessment in 38 years under TSCA authority

Since 1976, when Congress enacted the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) the EPA released its second final risk assessment for trichloroethylene (the first risk assessment covered asbestos). It focuses on the health risks from TCE exposure through… …

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UNEP says measuring plastics use will reduce companies’ environmental impacts

Environmental impacts of plastic use are a business liability, says a new report from the Plastic Disclosure Project, United National Environment Program and business consultants Trucost. By quantifying plastics use, the report suggests, companies… …

Illinois bans plastic microbeads in personal care products

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… …

France urges quick action on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)

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… …

Adidas 99% PFC-free by 2017

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… …

Clothing brands commit to limiting chemical releases

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… …

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Panera Bread says “no” to artificial food additives

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,… …

Kaiser Permanente says “no” to flame retardants in furniture

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… …

France warns against exposure to five widely used reproductive toxicants and endocrine disrupting chemicals

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… …

“Forget precaution, get to production”

Lowell Center for Sustainable Production examines the “precarious promise” of engineered carbon nanotubes (CNTs) Despite uncertainty about their environmental and health effects, technologies relying on CNTs have developed at warp speed,… …

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Who manufactures substances of very high concern? See latest report from ChemSec for investors

Oil and gas companies top the European NGO, ChemSec’s latest report on companies manufacturing “substances of very high concern” – SIN (Substitute It Now) chemicals. Likely to face future bans or restrictions in the EU due to… …

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Fate of nanomaterials: Is it surprising to discover that nanotubes can be released from plastics?

We have long known that supposedly inert chemicals in plastics can break away from the finished product, exposing people and the environment to their health hazards. Flame retardants, plasticizers and monomers like Bisphenol A (BPA) are all… …