California Searching for safer chemicals – but safer for whom? New EPA flame retardants report highlights the dilemma
June 25, 2014 Elizabeth Grossman 2Comment

When a widely used chemical is identified as an environmental health hazard and targeted for phase-out and elimination, among the most challenging questions for those involved with making such a chemical are: What to use instead? and Will the replacement be safe? The US Environmental Protection Agency’s report identifying alternatives to the flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) illustrates how difficult those questions can be to answer.

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Consumer Product Safety Commission Chemicals in commerce: Will industry-promoted legislation undermine existing laws?
March 11, 2014 Elizabeth Grossman 3Comment

While the Senate is pressing the EPA to prevent future chemical disasters, legislation has been introduced in Congress that would, if enacted, make it harder for the public to obtain information about chemical hazards, either in industrial storage tanks or consumer products. While state and local governments – and many manufacturers – are responding to growing public is demand for safer chemicals and more information about chemicals used in products – industry trade associations are promoting legislation that appears to counter that progress.

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