Greenlist Bulletin
From the Toxics Use Reduction Institute
at the University of Massachusetts Lowell
December 20, 2013
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This is the weekly bulletin of the TURI Library at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Greenlist Bulletin provide s previews of recent publications and websites relevant to reducing the use of toxic chemicals by industries, businesses, communities, individuals and government. You are welcome to send a message to mary@turi.org if you would like more information on any of the articles listed here, or if this email is not displaying properly.
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Chemical Listed Effective December 20, 2013 as Known to the State of CA to Cause Cancer: Diisononyl phthalate (DINP)
| Source: California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, December 12, 2013
Effective December 20, 2013, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is adding diisononyl phthalate to the list of chemicals known to the State to cause cancer for purposes of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65).
Diisononyl phthalate was considered by the Carcinogen Identification Committee (CIC) in its official capacity as the "state's qualified experts" (SQE) at a public meeting held on December 5, 2013. The CIC determined that the chemical was clearly shown, through scientifically valid testing according to generally accepted principles, to cause cancer. Regulations for listing of chemicals by the CIC are set out in Title 27, California Code of Regulations, section 25305(a)(1).
Read more...
Also see CA - OEHHA Staff presentation on DINP. |
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Chemical Hazard Assessments of Alternative Plasticizers for Wire & Cable Applications
| Source: Green Chemistry & Commerce Council, May 2013
The Business and Academic Partnership Project Group of the GC3 developed and piloted a new type of collaboration between companies and universities to evaluate safer alternatives to toxic chemicals. The goal was to generate robust assessments of alternatives to support chemical substitution decision-making by GC3 companies and their supply chain partners, through pooling of knowledge, data and funds. The model was developed through a pilot project focused on identifying and evaluating alternatives to a known toxic phthalate plasticizer in wire & cable applications -- DEHP (Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate). This project report provides a summary of the project results and links to detailed chemical hazard assessments for nine plasticizers.
Read more... Access report. |
EPA Releases Data on 1,800 Chemicals
| Source: Environmental Leader, December 18, 2013
The EPA announced Tuesday it has released screening data on 1,800 chemicals found in industrial and consumer products, food additives and drugs. The data, which was gathered through a variety of advanced techniques including robotics and high-throughout screening, is available through the EPA's new interactive Chemical Safety for Sustainability dashboard. The dashboard and the data is part of an ongoing collaboration, known as Tox21, between the EPA, National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences/National Toxicology Program, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and the Food and Drug Administration to improve chemical screening, the agency says. The vision is for the dashboard to evolve into an iCSS web application that will become the portal to access all EPA computational toxicology research data and studies including aggregated public sources of chemical toxicity data, animal toxicity studies and high-quality chemical structures and annotations. Read more... Access the U.S. EPA's new interactive Chemical Safety for Sustainability dashboard. |
| Assessing Alternatives To Toxic Chemicals | Source: Chemical & Engineering News, December 16, 2013
Author: Cheryl Hogue
Eliminating a toxic substance from a product's ingredients seems like a straightforward way to improve product safety. But when a toxic chemical gets removed from a product, some other substance -- or substances -- goes in as a replacement to carry out that ingredient's function, such as softening plastic or helping remove grease. Such a switch is intended to resolve the problem. But in some cases this situation can lead to what is being called "regrettable substitution."
For example, brake cleaner, which auto mechanics use, once contained chlorinated solvents, primarily methylene chloride. But in the 1990s, pollution control regulations pushed manufacturers of the cleaner to rid their products of chlorinated solvents. In place of these compounds, brake cleaner makers substituted n-hexane, which performs well in their products.
By the late 1990s, physicians began to report that auto mechanics using brake cleaner were suffering nerve damage, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Since the 1960s, n-hexane has been known to be neurotoxic. Product makers had swapped chemicals with a significant pollution downside for a substance that posed a serious health risk to workers.
Read more...
TURI's Note: The TURA Administrative Council has voted to designate methylene chloride as a Higher Hazard Substance. See TURI's Policy Analysis for Methylene Chloride.
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Solving the PVC recycling dilemma
| Source: Wire Journal International, November 2013
PVC is a basic building block for much of the world, especially in the U.S., but one downside has been that it cannot be recycled. One company, however, reports that it has gotten close to perfecting a process that can recover and convert used PVC to a form whereby it can be used as a virgin compound. Below, Christian Thamm, marketing and development manager for VinyLoop, discusses the technology . . .
Read more...
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New York Governor Signs Mercury Thermostat Stewardship Bill into Law
| Source: Product Stewardship Institute, December 20, 2013
Albany, New York -- New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law today a bill that will ensure the safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible collection of mercury thermostats throughout the Empire State.
The Mercury Thermostat Collection Act, which was passed by the state assembly in June, requires that manufacturers develop and implement a thermostat collection program that meets a pre-established goal of collecting 15,500 thermostats by 2015. The law also calls for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) to establish annual collection goals thereafter, and to make changes to the program if manufacturers fail to meet these goals. Such changes include requiring manufacturers to pay financial incentives to those returning old thermostats to encourage greater participation.
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Massachusetts Office of Technical Assistance Advisory: Preventive Hazard Evaluation for Process Safety
| Source: MA - Office of Technical Assistance & Technology, June 2013
The 2012 Massachusetts Fire Code hazardous material processing regulation (527 CMR 33) requires a hazard evaluation or limited process safety program for many companies that have never faced this requirement before (though many companies have been essentially performing these tasks as good practice). Many companies covered by this regulation must now document that a hazard evaluation has been done, and safety measures are being integrated into operations.
Preparing for emergencies involving hazardous chemicals processing requires an understanding of what can go wrong and how to control it if it does. Preventing such emergencies requires an understanding of alternative ways of accomplishing work without creating the hazards that pose a risk of harm.
OSHA's Process Safety Management (PSM) and EPA's Risk Management Program (RMP) rules set standards for large facilities posing risks of significant property damage or toxic releases to the community. The new Fire Code regulation provides facilities with lesser risks (Categories 3 and 4) the flexibility to formulate an approach that is appropriate for the facility. This advisory concerns the essentials of preventive hazard evaluation, and the formalization of the process in a way that fits the scale of operations and which captures the potential value of the effort. All facilities that have processes that pose risks should implement preventive hazard evaluation to reduce the chance of an accident involving injury or other losses.
Access Advisory. |
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| Please send a message to mary@turi.org if you would like more information on any of these resources. Also, please tell us what topics you are particularly interested in monitoring, and who else should see Greenlist. An online search of the TURI Library catalog can be done at http://library.turi.org for greater topic coverage.
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Greenlist Bulletin is compiled by:
Mary Butow
Research and Reference Specialist
Toxics Use Reduction Institute
University of Massachusetts Lowell
600 Suffolk St., Wannalancit Mills
Lowell MA 01854
978-934-4365
978-934-3050 (fax)
mary@turi.org
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