Green Science Policy Institute

WE WORK AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN SCIENCE AND POLICY TO REDUCE USE OF HARMFUL CHEMICALS IN CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND BUILDING MATERIALS TO PROTECT HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT. WE MOTIVATE AND PARTICIPATE IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WORK WITH SCIENTISTS TO SHARE THEIR RESEARCH RESULTS WITH GOVERNMENT, STANDARDS BODIES, AND OTHER DECISION MAKERS AND CONVENE DIVERSE HIGH-LEVEL STAKEHOLDERS TO EFFECT CHANGE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST. ADDITIONALLY, WE EDUCATE DESIGNERS, RETAILERS, MANUFACTURERS, AND INSTITUTIONAL PURCHASERS TO EMPOWER THEM TO REDUCE THE USE OF ENTIRE CLASSES OF CHEMICALS OF CONCERN IN THE PRODUCTS THEY PRODUCE, SELL, OR BUY. OUR APPROACH HAS PROVEN SUCCESSFUL AT THE LOCAL, NATIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL FOR REDUCING THE USE OF HARMFUL CHEMICALS.

THE SIX CLASSES IS OUR OVERARCHING PROGRAM. THE SIX CLASSES APPROACH IS AN INNOVATIVE STRATEGY TO EDUCATE DECISION MAKERS TO REDUCE THE USE OF THE MOST HARMFUL CLASSES OF CHEMICALS IN CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND MOVE TO SAFER ALTERNATIVES. BY FOCUSING ON ENTIRE CLASSES OF CHEMICALS, THE COMMON PROBLEM OF REGRETTABLE SUBSTITUTION CAN BE PREVENTED. ALL TOO OFTEN WHEN A TOXIC CHEMICAL IS PHASED OUT AFTER YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND ADVOCACY, THE SUBSTITUTE IS A CHEMICAL COUSIN, WITH SIMILAR PROPERTIES AND SIMILAR TOXICITY. SEE OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS BELOW AND VISIT WWW.GREENSCIENCEPOLICY.ORG, WWW.PFASCENTRAL.ORG, AND WWW.SIXCLASSES.ORG FOR MORE INFORMATION. THE SIX CLASSES OF CHEMICALS OF CONCERN ARE: FLAME RETARDANTS; PFAS; ANTIMICROBIALS; BISPHENOLS & PHTHALATES; ORGANIC SOLVENTS; AND CERTAIN METALS. SIX CLASSES ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2021: 1) IN AUGUST, THE NEW YORK TIMES PUBLISHED OUR OP-ED. THIS OPINION PIECE CONNECTED CLIMATE CHANGE, PLASTICS POLLUTION AND TOXIC CHEMICLAS. ALL ARE CAUSED BY THE PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY AND WE ARGUED THEY ARE BEST PREVENTED TOGETHER. 2) WE SHARED OUR INNOVATIVE AND VERY SUCCESSFUL SCIENCE COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY IN THE JOURNAL, NATURE AND ALSO HELD A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS FOR SCIENTISTS WORLDWIDE ON HOW BEST TO UTLIZE OUR STRATEGY. OUR STRATEGY INCLUDES SELECTING RESEARCH TOPICS WITH IMPORTANT POLICY RELEVANCE, COLLABORATING WITH EXPERTS FROM MULTIPLE INSTITUTIONS, CHOOSING AN OPTIMAL RELEASE DATE, AND COMPOSING A PRESS RELEASE IN ACCESSIBLE LANGUAGE WITH A HOOK TO ATTRACT ATTENTION. ALTMETRIC, A MEDIA MONITORING SERVICE, REPORTED THAT PAPERS WE HAVE HELPED PUBLICIZE HAVE SCORED IN THE TOP 5% OF ALL RESEARCH OUTPUT. 3) WE PROMOTED THE SIX CLASSES APPROACH THROUGH LECTURES, WORKSHOPS, PAPERS, AND MONTHLY CALLS WITH SCIENTISTS WORLDWIDE. THE HIGHLIGHT WAS A PFAS FEATURE ON THE JOHN OLIVER SHOW. HE CALLED OUT THE NECESSITY OF MANAGING PFAS AS A CLASS AND SHOWED OUR PAPER ON THIS SUBJECT. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ARLENE BLUM WAS AN ADVISOR ON PFAS FOR THE SHOW. 4) THE CLASS CONCEPT IS BEING INCORPORATED INTO REGULATION WORLDWIDE. FOR EXAMPLE, THIS CONCEPT CONTRIBUTED TO THE EU'S INNOVATIVE NEW CHEMICALS STRATEGY WHICH AIMS TO PHASE OUT ALL NON-ESSENTIAL USES OF ALL PFAS. ALSO, STATE AND LOCAL LEGISLATION IN THE U.S. IS BANNING THE ENTIRE CLASS OF PFAS IN FOOD PACKAGING AND FIREFIGHTING FOAMIMPORTANT INITIATIVES FOR WHICH WE HAVE BEEN ADVOCATING. THE CLASS CONCEPT IS ONE OF OUR MOST IMPORTANT BIG IDEAS AND WE TAKE PRIDE THAT IT IS BEING WIDELY USED BY GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS TO REDUCE THE USE OF PFAS AND OTHER HARMFUL CHEMICALS. REDUCING PFAS: IN 2021, A MAIN FOCUS OF OUR WORK WAS EDUCATING STAKEHOLDERS AND REDUCING THE USE OF THE CLASS OF PFAS IN CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND BUILDING MATERIALS. ACCOMPLISHMENTS INCLUDE: **PFAS IN COSMETICS PAPER: OUR PEER-REVIEWED PAPER, FLUORINATED COMPOUNDS IN NORTH AMERICAN COSMETICS FOUND THAT ABOUT HALF OF 231 COSMETICS TESTED CONTAINED FLUORINE, INDICATING THE LIKELY PRESENCE OF PFAS. THE SAME TIME OUR PAPER WENT ONLINE, THE BIPARTISAN NO PFAS IN COSMETICS ACT WAS INTRODUCED IN BOTH THE HOUSE & SENATE AND OUR PRESS CONFERENCE INCLUDED ABOUT FORTY REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE COSMETICS INDUSTRY. OUR PAPER RECEIVED UNPRECEDENTED PRESS COVERAGE AND AWOKE THE COSMETICS MANUFACTURERS TO THE PFAS PROBLEM. NOW WE ARE HELPING MAKEUP MANUFACTURERS ELIMINATE ALL PFAS FROM COSMETICS. OUR PAPER HAS BEEN VIEWED OVER 85,000 TIMES, THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF ARTICLE VIEWS FOR ANY PAPER IN ES&T LETTERS. **HEALTHY BUILDING REPORT: OUR REPORT BUILDING A BETTER WORLD: ELIMINATING UNNECESSARY PFAS FROM BUILDING MATERIALS, COMPILED THE NUMEROUS USES OF PFAS IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT. WE HELD A WEBINAR FOR 200 ATTENDEES TO SHARE OUR FINDINGS. FOLLOWING ON FROM THAT, ARCHITECTS, DESIGNERS, MANUFACTURERS AND NGOS HAVE JOINED US FOR MONTHLY DISCUSSIONS ON REDUCING PFAS IN BUILDING MATERIALS. TO PRIORITIZE OUR ONGOING WORK, WE HAVE TESTED 250+ BUILDING PRODUCTS AND FOUND FLUORINE IN NEARLY HALF OF THEM. **OUTDOOR GEAR: WE COLLABORATED WITH OUTDOOR MANUFACTURERS AND RETAILERS INCLUDING KEEN, NORTHFACE, REI, AND 66NORTH IN ICELAND TO STOP THE USE OF PFAS IN OUTDOOR PRODUCTS. WE HAVE MEASURED TOTAL FLUORINE IN HIKING BOOTS AND MEMBRANES AND SHARED WITH MANUFACTURERS. WE ALSO WORKED WITH KEEN SHOE COMPANY ON THEIR FULL-PAGE AD IN THE NYTIMES GIVING A BLUEPRINT TO THE OUTDOOR INDUSTRY FOR STOPPING THE USE OF PFAS IN OUTDOOR SHOES AND OTHER PRODUCTS. **SUPPORTING BANS ON PFAS IN PRODUCTS WORLDWIDE: REMOVING PFAS FROM OUR ENVIRONMENT IS DIFFICULT, EXPENSIVE & OFTEN IMPOSSIBLE. TO PREVENT LONG-TERM HARM, WE MUST QUICKLY TURN OFF THE TAP ON NEW PRODUCTION. TO SUPPORT SUCH EFFORTS WORLDWIDE, WE ARE CONVENING REGULATORS FROM THE NORDIC COUNTRIES, GERMANY, THE NETHERLANDS, CANADA, & THE US (STAFF FROM THE HOUSE & SENATE, EPA, MAINE, MASSACHUSETTS, CALIFORNIA) WHO ARE LEADING LEGISLATION TO STOP THE USE OF ALL PFAS. DURING REGULAR CALLS, THEY SHARE SUCCESSES, CHALLENGES, STRATEGIES AND WRITTEN MATERIALS TO HELP EACH OTHER SUCCEED. **ENCOURAGING GOVERNMENT ACTION TO REDUCE HARM FROM PFAS: WE PROVIDED IDEAS, SCIENTIFIC INPUT, AND EDITING FOR PROPOSED NATIONAL PFAS LEGISLATION IN THE US HOUSE AND SENATE. THESE INCLUDED AMENDMENTS TO THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT TO REDUCE MILITARY PURCHASING OF PRODUCTS CONTAINING PFAS. WE CONTINUED TO EDUCATE HOUSE AND SENATE STAFF ABOUT PFAS AT OUR WEBINAR ON PFAS IN COSMETICS FOR THE PFAS HOUSE TASK FORCE AND OUR OCCASIONAL PFAS 101 WEBINARS. **PETITION TO THE U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION (CPSC): WE COLLABORATED WITH THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY (PEER) TO WRITE A PETITION REQUESTING CPSC BAN A VARIETY OF CONSUMER PRODUCTS CONTAINING PFAS. FLAME RETARDANTS IN FURNITURE: WE CONTINUE OUR LONG-TERM WORK TO EDUCATE PURCHASERS AND STOP INDUSTRY EFFORTS TO BRING FLAME RETARDANTS BACK INTO OUR FURNITURE. WE ALSO FOUND THAT TOXIC TRIS FLAME RETARDANTS ARE STILL USED IN AUTOMOBILES. WE ARE INITIATING A RESEARCH STUDY IN COLLABORATION WITH HEATHER STAPLETON OF DUKE UNIVERSITY TO MEASURE THE CONCENTRATIONS OF TRIS AND OTHER HARMFUL FLAME RETARDANTS IN VEHICLES FROM ACROSS THE UNITED STATES. INTERNATIONAL ELECTRONICS WORK: WE ARE WORKING TO PREVENT UNNECESSARY INTERNATIONAL FLAMMABILITY STANDARDS THAT WOULD LEAD TO THE USE OF FLAME RETARDANTS WITHOUT PROVIDING A FIRE SAFETY BENEFIT. OUR EDUCATIONAL WORK HELPED PREVENT NUMEROUS PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS THAT WOULD HAVE LED TO THE UNNECESSARY USE OF HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF POUNDS OF FLAME RETARDANTS IN ELECTRONICS ENCLOSURES. WE HAVE BUILT A TEAM OF EXPERT CONSULTANTS TO MONITOR FLAMMABILITY COMMITTEES WHERE FLAME RETARDANT MANUFACTURERS ARE ACTIVE AND WATCH FOR ANY PROPOSALS THAT MIGHT LEAD TO THE INCREASED USE OF THESE HARMFUL CHEMICALS. IN 2021, OUR CONSULTANTS CONTINUED TO INFLUENCE KEY COMMITTEES OF THE INTERNATIONAL ELECTRONICS COMMITTEE TOWARDS THE REDUCTION OF FLAME RETARDANTS.