MPCA/MDH Report Supports Green Chemistry, Protecting Children’s Health

By Kathleen Schuler, Healthy Legacy Co-Director

Today, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and the Minnesota Department of Health  (MDH) issued the final version of a new report: Options to Reduce and Phase-out Priority Chemicals in Children's Products and Promote Green Chemistry. The report was released as required by legislation called the Toxic Free Kids Act in 2009, which the Healthy Legacy coalition played an essential role in passing. The report deals with methods to phase-out the use of toxic chemicals in children’s products and also with activities to promote green chemistry in the state. You can learn more about green chemistry practices and challenges in Minnesota by registering for the Adding Value through Green Chemistry conference to be held on Friday, January 7, 2011.

Good Next Steps

This joint agency report builds nicely on the current work of the two agencies in addressing problem chemicals in children’s products and promoting green chemistry. Last summer, MDH generated a list of 1,756 chemicals of high concern. These are chemicals that persist in the environment, accumulate in the body and in the food chain or have adverse effects on reproduction or brain development or cause cancer.  They are now working on a smaller list of priority chemicals in children’s products. The MPCA has been surveying businesses on what is needed to advance green chemistry (safer product design) in the state.

The following recommendations from the report are good next steps:

1. Manufacturers should disclose the presence of priority chemicals in children’s products. The priority chemical list will be available on or before February 1, 2011 and will target specific chemicals from the Chemicals of High Concern list.
2. Minnesota should continue participating in the Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse (IC2), which provides a vital opportunity for states to share information on chemicals.
3. Minnesota should evaluate Preferential Purchasing as a tool to reduce the use of products containing priority chemicals.
4. We need to promoting green chemistry by establishing formal policies, tracking green chemistry practices, considering the field as a part of pollution prevention and maintaining a fulltime staff person to focus on this emerging field. Learn more about the MPCA’s work on green chemistry.

We need to go further

The above recommendations are great next steps, but we need to go further. We need to actually place restrictions on priority chemicals in children’s products to assure that Minnesota’s children are protected. Children are unnecessarily exposed to toxic chemicals in consumer products every day—for example, cancer causing chemicals like formaldehyde in children’s bath products and tris, a flame retardant that was banned in children’s pajamas in the 1970s is now used in foam crib and stroller pads. American businesses have the know-how to design and manufacture products without using toxic chemicals, but some companies might need a stronger push in the form of product restrictions. We need to take the next step in requiring that manufacturers substitute safer alternatives.

The report lays out an array of opportunities to support green chemistry in Minnesota, including establishing formal policies, tracking green chemistry practices, considering the field as a part of pollution prevention and maintaining a fulltime staff person to focus on this emerging field. We should do all this and more. Healthy Legacy supports the maximum level of effort by state agencies and the business community to create a robust green chemistry environment in the state.

Business Initiatives to Promote Green Chemistry

We believe that the business community has an important role to play in advancing green chemistry in our state. To this end, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy has convened the Minnesota Green Chemistry Forum, a group committed to fostering a common understanding among businesses, government, non-governmental organizations(NGOs) and academia to advance green chemistry practice and policy in Minnesota and nationally.

You can join us on Friday, January 7 at our Adding Value through Green Chemistry conference for an opportunity to learn more about green chemistry in the state, attend a keynote presentation from John Warner, one of the “fathers” of green chemistry, and network with the representatives of leading Minnesota companies. Conference participants will get an opportunity to identify concrete actions to promote green chemistry in our state through investment, research, education, business practices and supportive policies. Please join the conversation—Register today!