Examples

Alternatives Assessments come in many forms. Here are examples of assessments currently available for a variety of chemicals and uses.

Chemical-Specific Studies

•  Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute’s (TURI) Five Chemicals Alternatives Assessment Study - alternatives to lead, formaldehyde, perchloroethylene, hexavalent chromium and DEHP (a plasticizer)
•  Washington DEC CSPA chemical selection process, pilot rule process, comments and response to comments, accessible at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/rules/ruleChildPilotPhase.html

Lead

•  Washington State Lead Chemical Action Plan (CAP), Washington Department of Ecology and Department of Health, September 2009.

Brominated Flame Retardants

•  Alternatives to Deca-BDE in Televisions and Computers and Residential Upholstered Furniture Washington Department of Ecology and Department of Health, December 2008.
•  An Overview of Alternatives to Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), Gregory Morose, March, 2006
•  Washington State Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (PBDE) Chemical Action Plan: Final Plan , Washington Department of Ecology and Department of Health, January 2006.
•  Decabromodiphenylether: An Investigation of Non-Halogen Substitutes in Electronic Enclosure and Textile Applications, prepared by Pure Strategies for the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, April, 2005

Plasticizers

•  The Use of Di-2-Ethylhexyl-Phthalate in PVC Medical Devices: Exposure, Toxicity and Alternatives Joel Tickner, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, 1999

Mercury

•  An Investigation of Alternatives to Miniature Batteries Containing Mercury, Catherine Galligan and Gregory Morose, prepared for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. December 2004
•  An Investigation of Alternatives to Mercury-Containing Products, Catherine Galligan, Greg Morose, and Jim Giordani, prepared for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. January 2003.
•  Washington State Mercury CAP, Washington Department of Ecology and Department of Health, January 2003

Sector-Specific Studies

Healthcare

•  Markkanen P, Quinn M, Galligan C, Bello A. Cleaning in the Healthcare Industry: reducing human health effects and environmental impacts, April 2009  http://www.sustainableproduction.org/downloads/CleaninginHealthcareFacilities.pdf
•  Quinn MM, Fuller TP, Bello A, Galligan C, Pollution Prevention-Occupational Health and Safety in Hospitals: Alternatives and Interventions, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene 3:182-193, 2006. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16531291
•  Markkanen P, Quinn M, Galligan C, Bello A. Cleaning in the Healthcare Industry: reducing human health effects and environmental impacts, April 2009  http://www.sustainableproduction.org/downloads/CleaninginHealthcareFacilities.pdf

Other Useful Information

Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety - Substitution and Alternatives Case Studies, Examples and Tools developed by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Product Chemicals Policy and Science Initiative

Preventing Toxic Exposures: Workplace Lessons in Safer Alternatives 2010 http://www.sustainableproduction.org/downloads/PreventingToxicExposure9-10.pdf