Public and private sector green purchasing programs first began in the 1990s, and they've been growing in number and scope ever since.

Environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) programs initially focused on recycled content and energy efficiency. Now, they are increasingly taking into account the issue of toxicity, nudging buyers toward the purchase of products with less toxic chemistries.

"Green" burial grounds are becoming an appealing option for some Vermont residents.

A new Vermont state law has lessened some of the regulations for public cemeteries and now permits natural burial grounds, a cheaper alternative to traditional interment. Green burials forego toxic fluids and caskets as well as pesticides and fertilizers used to maintain pristine lawns at traditional cemeteries, the Burlington Free Press reported.

An exclusive report by national women's health non-profit, Women's Voices for the Earth (WVE), is a first of its kind ... on the failings of the fragrance industry's self-regulated safety program.

The term "fragrance" actually represents a chemical cocktail that can be made up of hundreds of ingredients. Fragrances are found in thousands of consumer products, yet there is little regulatory oversight of the safety of those ingredients. The current system for fragrance safety is run entirely by the industry's own International Fragrance Association (IFRA) and their research arm, the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM).

"The safety of fragrance chemicals is not determined, monitored or safe-guarded by any governmental agency globally in any comprehensive fashion," said Alexandra Scranton, Director of Science and Research at WVE and author of the report. "Allowing the fragrance industry to self-regulate, and establish itself as the sole authority on fragrance safety, simply does not serve the public health interest."

Source: TCO Development, November 11, 2015


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Also see press release from Clean Production Action, "GreenScreen^� in International Electronics Sustainability Standard".

Common ingredients in the cleaning sprays for your kitchen and bathroom make mice less fertile, suggesting the compounds could do the same to humans, according to a new study.

Health researchers are concerned about specific chemicals used in cleaners -- including popular brands like Lysol, Clorox and Simple Green -- called quaternary ammonium compounds, used to kill microorganisms. Recent laboratory work from Virginia Tech University scientists found that when mice are exposed, both males and females have some unsettling impacts, such as weaker sperm and decreased ovulation.

Industry representatives have pushed back on the research, saying federal agencies deem the chemicals safe and that mice were exposed to unrealistically high levels.

The study, published today in Reproductive Toxicology, comes as U.S. infertility rates appear to be rising. A growing body of evidence suggests that environmental chemicals are playing a role.

It has been 25 years since the federal government passed the Pollution Prevention Act. The 1990 law is credited with reducing industrial waste by as much as 60 percent since it was enacted, by getting companies and governments to look upstream at what goes into the manufacturing process and stopping pollution at the source.