Material Health and Green Chemistry
Northwest Green Chemistry
Roundtable
Lauren Heine Ph.D.
Co-Director Clean Production Action
Director GreenScreen Program
Technical Advisor, Northwest Green Chemistry
October 28 2014
Ceiling tile
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
asthma
to cancer
Wall covering
Paint
Carpet
Furniture
Material Health in LEED v4
MRcredits: Building Product Disclosure & Optimization –
Material Ingredients
Option 1
Material Ingredient Reporting
• Health Product Declaration (HPD)
• Manufacturer’s Inventory with GreenScreen
• Cradle to Cradle Certified - all levels except v3 Basic
Option 2
Material Ingredient Optimization
• GreenScreen List Translator + No Benchmark 1
• GreenScreen Full Assessment + No Benchmark 1
• Cradle to Cradle Certified
- v3 Silver, Gold, Platinum
- v2 Gold & Platinum
• REACH – International Compliance Path
Critical Steps to Determine Material Health
Inventory
Screen
Assess
Optimize
• Inventory and Disclosure – What’s in it?
– Depth of inventory
• Hazard Screening – GS List Translator
– Identify known hazards, RSLs, etc.
• Full Hazard Assessment - GS and C2C
– What are the potential impacts of the ingredients?
• Optimization – designing to pose no hazards or risks
– Reformulate, innovate
Getting Credit in LEED v4
Product Content
Inventory
Inventoried to 1,000 PPM and...
OP 1 HPD with GS LT for all
MI disclose all ingredients
or hazards based on GS LT
OP 1
Chemical Hazard
List Screening
Chemical Hazard
Full Assessment
Material
Assessment
Inventoried to 100 PPM and...
OP 2 I00% BM1 using GS
LT
(can document with HPD)
OP 2 150%; No BM1 using full
GreenScreen method
OP 1
OP 2
OP 2
All levels but v3 Basic
100% v2 Gold, v3 Silver
150%: v2 Platinum
v3 Gold/Platinum
GreenScreen® for Safer Chemicals
A method for Chemical Hazard Assessment (CHA)
developed by Clean Production Action
– Fully transparent
– Scientifically based
– Simplifies complex information
– Applies to chemicals, materials and
products
– Freely downloadable*
– Becoming a global standard
*All supporting resources at: www.greenscreenchemicals.org
Green/Sustainable Chemistry
Defined by 12 Principles: reduce risk by reducing inherent hazard
Risk = (Hazard, Exposure)
Green chemistry
is “the design of
products and
processes that
reduce or
eliminate the
use or
generation of
hazardous
substances.”
#3 Less hazardous chemical
syntheses
#4 Design safer chemicals
and products
#5 Use safer solvents and
auxiliaries
#10 Design chemicals and
products to degrade after
use
#12 Minimize the potential
for accidents
GreenScreen (GS) Tools
GS List Translator
– High level review using hazard lists only
– Doesn’t require toxicology expertise
– Automated tools
• Pharos
• HPD Builder
• GreenWERCS with GS List Translator
• Full GreenScreen
– Comprehensive review
– Can identify safer chemicals
– Requires technical expertise such as
Licensed Profilers (toxicologists)
Full GreenScreen Assessments Always Trump GS List Translator Results
What GreenScreen List Translator Is
• Maps chemicals on GS
specified lists to hazards and
overall scores
• Identifies known “bad actor”
chemicals using hazard lists
Benchmark 1
Avoid – Chemical of
High Concern
• Provides a quick and
useful screen for
reviewing formulations
• Aided by software
automation
What the GreenScreen List Translator Is
Not
• It does NOT include a full
assessment of data
• It does NOT represent a
comprehensive review
• It does NOT review
transformation products
• It does NOT identify safer
chemicals
A full GreenScreen always trumps results from
GreenScreen List Translator
Benchmark 4
Prefer – Safer Chemical
Automation of the GS List Translator:
Software Partners
Pharos Chemical and
Material Library (CML)
The Wercs
GreenWERCS
GreenScreen® Assessment
1. Assess and classify hazards
2. Apply the Benchmarks
3. Make informed decisions
13
GreenScreen Hazard Endpoints
italic – not typically in DfE AA Table
Human Health
Group I
Human Health Group II and
II*
Environmental
Toxicity & Fate
Carcinogenicity
Acute Toxicity
Acute Aquatic
Toxicity (3 species)
Mutagenicity &
Genotoxicity
Systemic Toxicity & Organ
Effects
Chronic Aquatic
Toxicity (3 species)
Reproductive
Toxicity
Neurotoxicity
Other Ecotoxicity
studies when
available
Developmental
Toxicity
Skin Sensitization
Respiratory Sensitization
Endocrine Activity
Skin Irritation
Eye Irritation
Persistence
Bioaccumulation
Physical Hazards
Reactivity
Flammability
Assess & Classify Hazards
•
•
•
•
•
Literature review
Test Data
Analogs/Surrogates
Q/SAR Models
Hazard Lists
Step 1: Populate Hazard Summary Table
Green Screen Hazard Ratings
Level of Concern:
• vH = very High
• H = High
vH
H
L
DG
Neurotoxicity
 L = Low
 vL = very Low
 DG = Data Gap
Flammability
L
Reactivity
L
Acute Toxicity
L
Bioaccumulation
*
Persistence
*
Chronic Aquatic Toxicity
repeated
*
Physical
Acute Aquatic Toxicity
single
Systemic Toxicity
repeated
*
Fate
Eye Irritation
M
single
Ecotox
Skin Irritation
M
Endocrine Activity
Developmental Toxicity
Reproductive Toxicity
L
Respiratory Sensitization*
L
Group II and II* Human
Skin Sensitization*
L
Mutagenicity
Carcinogenicity
Group I Human
L
L
H
H
vL
L
M
L
Level of Confidence:
• Bold = High confidence
• Italics = Low confidence
Step 2: Apply GreenScreen Benchmarks
Benchmark U =
Undetermined due
to insufficient data
 Aligned with
Regulatory Drivers
Step 3: Make Informed Decisions
• Simple integer score (1-4)
supports taking action
• Drives adoption of preferred
materials
• Drives innovation of new
materials
Benchmark 4
Prefer – Safer Chemical
Benchmark 3
Use but Still Opportunity
for Improvement
Benchmark 2
Use but Search for Safer
Substitutes
Benchmark 1
Avoid – Chemical of
High Concern
Benchmark U =
Undetermined due
to insufficient data
GreenScreen Inside
1. State Regulations
2. Alternatives Assessment
3. Materials Procurement
4. Product Development
5. Corporate Policies
6. Software Tools
7. Standards, Scorecards and
Ecolabels
Summary of GS
• GreenScreen for Safer Chemicals
 Method for Chemical Hazard Assessment
 Use to evaluate individual chemical hazards &
assess alternatives
 Evaluates chemicals in materials and products
 Supports range of activities from product
design, development, procurement, alternatives
assessment, regulations, standards and
ecolabels
“The more you know about what you are
putting into your products, the more likely you
are to make better choices in product
development”
Jonathan Plisco, PolyOne
2
1