Greenlist(tm) Bulletin 07/18/2008
This is the weekly bulletin of the TURI Library, reporting a selection of recently published titles we have acquired. Our pledge is to keep the bulletin relevant to your work and brief -- no more than 10 titles. You are welcome to send a message to jan@turi.org if you would like more information on any of the articles listed here.
Titles here, abstracts below:
- The risk intelligent approach to corporate responsibility & sustainability
- Phthalates hazard compendium: a summary of physicochemical and human health hazard data for 24 ortho-phthalate chemicals
- JohnsonDiversey reformulates leading floor care line to meet new environmental standards
- Chemical companies, health groups spar on consumer safety
- Corporations can profit from being environmentally friendly, new George Mason University study shows
- Clean hair, clean air
- Management concerns about known and potential impacts of lead use in shooting and fishing activities
- Navigating the wilderness of green business certifications
- EWG's shopper's guide to safer sunscreens
- A community guide to environmental health
1. The risk intelligent approach to corporate responsibility & sustainability
Source: Deloitte, 2008
Abstract: With business practices under increasing scrutiny by regulators, analysts, media and stakeholders, corporate responsibility and sustainability (CR&S) is fast becoming a critical issue for companies. Yet confusion exists over CR&S and the best approaches to it. Is CR&S mainly about charity? “Green” business? Human rights? Pro bono work? All of the above?
The 11th title in Deloitte's Risk Intelligence series offers insight into why a strategically driven CR&S program is critical to a company’s survival — beyond the “feel good” factor of charity — and outlines a Risk Intelligent CR&S approach.
Among the questions addressed in the paper:
• Where should companies focus their CR&S initiative?
• What activities should they be reporting on?
• What impact will CR&S have on their bottom line?
• What are the major risks?
• How can companies become Risk Intelligent in the ways they tackle these CR&S issues?
http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/
us_risk_The_RI_Approach_toCorporate_Responsibility_and_Sustainability_final.pdf
2. Phthalates hazard compendium: a summary of physicochemical and human health hazard data for 24 ortho-phthalate chemicals
Source: Australian Government. National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS), 2008
Abstract: This hazard compendium contains information on the physicochemical properties and human health hazards associated with 24 ortho-phthalate esters listed on the Australian Inventory of Chemical Substances (AICS) that are currently or likely to be used industrially in Australia.
Historically, concerns over the use of phthalates, from a human health viewpoint, have been associated particularly with the potential for reproductive/developmental effects. Underlining these concerns is the issue that the structural and physicochemical properties of certain phthalates that impart usefulness as plasticisers also permit migration and leaching, with the resultant potential for human exposure, particularly from soft plastics. The potential for exposure, combined with a recognised toxicity profile for some particular phthalates, has raised concerns over potential health risks from phthalates, especially when used in consumer applications.
In Australia, concern over health effects of phthalate esters led to phthalates being nominated to the NICNAS Candidate List from which chemicals requiring assessment are chosen on a priority basis. As a result of regulatory reviews, literature searches and a call for information from industry in 2004, 24 ortho-phthalates and a terephthalate (e.g. dimethyl terephthalate, DMT) were identified as in current or potential industrial use in Australia. Subsequently, 9 of the ortho-phthalates were identified in actual or potential use in children’s toys, childcare articles and/or cosmetics. Therefore, in addition to hazard assessments of phthalates, human health risk assessments are being conducted by NICNAS on these 9 ortho-phthalates for these consumer applications. These 9 ortho-phthalates were declared as Priority Existing Chemicals (PECs) on 7 March 2006 for public health risk assessments.
http://nicnas.gov.au/Publications/CAR/Other/Phthalate%20Hazard%20Compendium.pdf
3. JohnsonDiversey reformulates leading floor care line to meet new environmental standards
Source: JohnsonDiversey, July 10, 2008
Abstract: JohnsonDiversey, a global provider of cleaning and hygiene solutions, has achieved a significant reduction in volatile organic compound (VOC) content in its line of market-leading floor finishes more than two years ahead of a California Air Resources Board (CARB) deadline.
CARB’s standards call for a VOC limit of 1 percent, effective January 1, 2011. As a floor finish is used, its VOCs release emissions that affect air quality. Floor finish with a lower VOC content has less environmental impact, which is the objective of the new CARB standard.
The first product in the JohnsonDiversey floor-finish line up to meet the CARB standard is Signature ™ ultra high-speed floor finish, the company’s market-leading floor finish. The reformulated Signature™ maintains its performance while VOC content has been reduced by 40 percent.
JohnsonDiversey scientists began work on reformulating floor finishes more than a year ago. In all, about 15 floor-finish products under brand names of Johnson Wax Professional and Butcher’s are being reformulated to meet the CARB standard. Signature™, as the company’s largest selling floor finish, represents the largest volume of product already reformulated.
http://www.johnsondiversey.com/NR/rdonlyres/A5E9A288-06CC-4DAC-99E0-DD5B4CAEC2DA/0/
PressReleaseJohnsonDiverseymeetsCARBstandardsFINAL.pdf
4. Chemical companies, health groups spar on consumer safety
Author: Brown, Rebecca
Source: TheHill.com, July 14, 2008
Abstract: Chemical companies and health groups are battling over a provision in a consumer safety bill that would ban the use of plastic-softening chemicals found in many everyday products such as clothing, shoes and furniture.
The Breast Cancer Fund (BCF) and other health groups have lobbied hard for the measure, arguing the plastic-softening chemicals known as phthalates can cause problems with hormone levels and the human reproductive system.
Opponents include the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and Exxon Mobil , which say there is insufficient evidence that the chemicals cause health problems.
The chemical ban is arguably the most controversial provision House and Senate negotiators will try to work out in agreeing on a conference report on legislation overhauling the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Democrats had hoped to complete the bill before Christmas last year, and now hope to finish work before the August recess.
The provision was included in the Senate bill as an amendment sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), but it is not in the House version. The amendment passed unanimously in the Senate and Feinstein’s office said that it “will be deeply upset if the amendment is stricken in the night by chemical companies.”
http://thehill.com/business--lobby/
chemical-companies-health-groups-spar-on-consumer-safety-2008-07-14.html
5. Corporations can profit from being environmentally friendly, new George Mason University study shows
Source: George Mason University, July 15, 2008
Abstract: Though many policymakers have argued that environmental regulations can negatively impact an organization’s bottom line, a new study by George Mason University researcher Nicole Darnall shows that companies that develop green production processes can not only offset the costs of regulations, but can also reap further benefits.
The study, which looked at more than 2,600 manufacturing facilities operating in seven different countries, showed that more stringent environmental policies are related to diminished company profits. However, organizations that improve their environmental performance by enhancing their internal efficiencies and developing new green products and technologies can offset the cost of regulation or even accrue a net gain.
“The primary reason why the United States and many other countries do not have national climate change policy and do not implement more stringent environmental legislation is due to the costs the regulations would impose on firms,” says Darnall, assistant professor of environmental science and policy. “The results of this study are important because realizing that these costs can be offset—or eliminated entirely—is further evidence that policymakers could support the advancement of more ambitious environmental policy goals without putting undue financial burdens on corporations.”
The study showed that businesses can profit in two important ways. First, by improving their internal production processes to reduce waste, companies are more likely to enhance profits. “Many companies paint their products with solvent-based paints. By switching to water-based paints these businesses can eliminate toxic wastes in their production process and the need to meet certain environmental regulations. They also can speed up the time it takes to get their product to market and avoid long term liabilities associated with toxic waste disposal,” Darnall says.
The second way companies can profit from going green is by developing innovative green products and technologies and entering new markets. Businesses that do so are poised to take advantage of increased market demand for green products and make less environmentally friendly technologies obsolete.
http://eagle.gmu.edu/newsroom/display.php?rid=695&keywords=
6. Clean hair, clean air
Author: Barmeyer, Mary Logan; Karlstrom, Solvie
Source: The Green Guide, June 23, 2008
Abstract: If you've ever noticed that visits to the hair salon end in a perfectly styled coif accompanied by a dull headache, it might be worth considering just how good for your hair all that processing and coloring really is. And consider the stylists: If you're leaving with a headache, just imagine what they feel like at the end of the week.
From stripping out the color to adding in curls, some salons perform as many as 50 chemical applications every day, filling the room with noxious indoor air contaminants, such as ammonia (found in hair dyes and hair lighteners) and lye (used in hair relaxers), which can cause headaches and irritate respiratory passages. If the salon also does manicures and pedicures, patrons and employees are at risk of inhaling formaldehyde, a known carcinogen; phthalates, which are a possible reproductive or developmental toxin; and toluene, which triggers headaches, dizziness and fatigue.
In an effort to protect stylists and their customers from respiratory problems and skin irritation, some salon owners are clearing the air. John Masters, a longtime advocate for healthier beauty, opened his "clean-air" salon, John Masters Organics, in Manhattan's SoHo 15 years ago, before any attention was being paid to the problems with chemical beauty products. "People's impression of a clean-air salon was really off," he says. "They would ask, 'Do you cut hair with twigs? Do you use a banana to color hair?'"
You won't get a headache at John Masters, but you also won't get a manicure, a perm or a relaxer and you won't go from jet black to platinum blond, we discovered when we dropped in for a cut and color.
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/Mag2/salon
7. Management concerns about known and potential impacts of lead use in shooting and fishing activities
Author: Goddard, Chris I.; Leonard, Nancy J.; Stang, Doug L.; Wingate, P. Jack; Rattner, Barnett A.; Franson, J. Christian; Sheffield, Steven R.
Source: Fisheries, May 2008, pp228-236
Abstract: We present a summary of the technical review, jointly requested by the American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society, addressing the hazards to wildlife resulting from lead objects or fragments introduced into aquatic and terrestrial environments from the use of ammunition and fishing tackle. Impacts from lead are well documented in humans, as well as in terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Concern about impacts from lead ammunition and fishing tackle has resulted in the development of non-lead alternatives, educational campaigns, and regulations to restrict their use. This article discusses the general biological impacts of lead exposure from fishing and shooting activities to fish, wildlife, and humans; summarizes existing and proposed regulations to reduce lead exposure to biota; reviews alternatives to lead materials that are currently available for fishing; and outlines options for further actions to reduce wildlife and human exposure to lead from fishing activities.
http://www.fisheries.org/afs/docs/fisheries/fisheries_3305.pdf
8. Navigating the wilderness of green business certifications
Author: Herrera, Tilde
Source: GreenBiz.com, July 14, 2008
Abstract: The Sweet Candy Co. in Salt Lake City reduced the amount of waste it sent to landfills and cut its water and energy use. Now it has an appetite to tout its efforts to make its business operations more eco-friendly.
But when looking at all the options, the company decided that getting a green business certification may be the answer, though it was hard to choose from among the mass of them on the market.
"I’m not super-fluent in this field and I’m trying to head up a (sustainability) team, but I’m confused myself," said Rachel Sweet, the Sweet Candy Co.'s vice president of marketing.
She's looking for a certification that "stands for something."
"I'm concerned about all the different certifications that are coming out and what they're going to end up meaning in consumers' minds," Sweet said.
As more companies strive to display their green credentials, a crop of certifications are springing up to fill the need but they vary in rigor and oversight. There is no consistency among them and no national authority in charge of setting uniform standards.
"The problem is, it's a new, emerging area," said Tom Hinton, president and CEO of the American Consumer Council (ACC). "As a result, there is a lack of credible organizations trying to fill the demand for certification. Until you have a few other industries and nonprofit organizations step forward, consumers and companies run the risk of subscribing to a certification process that may not deliver all that it's propped up to be."
http://www.greenbiz.com/feature/2008/07/14/
navigating-wilderness-green-business-certifications
9. EWG's shopper's guide to safer sunscreens
Source: Environmental Working Group (EWG), 2008
Abstract: Does your sunscreen work? An investigation of nearly 1,000 brand-name sunscreen products finds that 4 out of 5 contain chemicals that may pose health hazards or don't adequately protect skin from the sun's damaging rays.
More than a million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. every year, but FDA still hasn't finalized sunscreen standards first announced 30 years ago. Meanwhile, companies are free to claim but not provide broad spectrum protection. Until FDA requires that all sunscreens be safe and effective, Environmental Working Group's comprehensive sunscreen guide—including a list of 143 products that offer very good sun protection—fills in the gaps.
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens2008/ewg_sunscreen.pdf
10. A community guide to environmental health
Author: Conant, Jeff; Fadem, Pam
Source: Hesperian Foundation, 2008
Abstract: From toilets to toxics, from watershed management to waste management, from raising crops to rising temperatures, how we use natural resources affects our health and well-being.
This highly illustrated guide helps health promoters, development workers, environmental activists, and community leaders take charge of their environmental health. In small villages and large cities, A Community Guide to Environmental Health can provide the tools, knowledge, and inspiration to begin transforming the crisis in environmental health.
This book contains activities to stimulate critical thinking and discussion, inspirational stories, and instructions for simple health technologies such as water purification methods, safe toilets, and non-toxic cleaning products. 23 chapters cover topics including:
* preventing and reducing harm from toxic pollution
* forestry, restoring land, and planting trees
* protecting community water and watersheds
* food security and sustainable farming
* environmental health at home
* solid waste and health care waste
* how to reduce harm from mining, oil, and energy production
http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download_EHB.php
You are welcome to send a message to jan@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.
This page updated Friday July 18 2008