Topic: Green chemistry

California selects nail products containing MMA for Priority Product list

By Will Troutman (US) and Andy Guo (US) on February 7, 2020 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has proposed listing nail products containing methyl methacrylate (MMA) as its latest Priority Product under its Safer Consumer Products regulation.

DTSC has gone after nail products before–nail products with toluene are already a proposed Priority Product awaiting adoption by the California Legislature.

If the newest proposal is adopted, responsible parties will need to remove impacted products from sale in California or undertake an alternatives analysis in order to continue selling in California.

The California Safer Products Regulation

As a refresher, the Safer Consumer Products regulation restricts the use of certain chemicals … Continue Reading

California selects nail products containing toluene for Priority Product list

By Will Troutman (US) and Andy Guo (US) on February 23, 2019 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has proposed listing nail products containing toluene as its latest priority product under its Safer Consumer Products program.

If adopted, responsible parties will need to remove impacted products from sale in California or undertake an alternatives analysis in order to continue selling in California.… Continue Reading

Oregon children’s product reporting instructions and portal go live

By Will Troutman (US) on October 13, 2017 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

With less than three months to go before the first biennial reporting deadline, the Oregon Health Authority has opened its reporting portal and issued instructions for reporting under the Oregon Toxic Free Kids Act. The Act requires manufacturers (or importers into the state) to report the existence of “High Priority Chemicals of Concern for Children’s Health” (HPCCCH) contained in children’s products offered for sale in Oregon, if the HPCCCH are intentionally added above de minimis levels or are present as contaminants above 100 parts per million. The first reporting deadline is January 1, 2018, for all covered products sold … Continue Reading

Washington restricts flame retardants in children’s products and upholstered furniture

By Will Troutman (US) and Lauren Shoor (US) on May 26, 2017 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

On July 1, 2017, Washington’s “Toxic-Free Kids and Families Act” goes into effect, restricting the use of the following five flame retardants in children’s products and residential upholstered furniture:

Additive TBBPA
Deca-BDE
HBCD (HBCDD)
TDCPP
TCEP

Under the Act, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers are prohibited from manufacturing, knowingly selling, offering for sale, or distributing for sale or use in Washington children’s products and residential upholstered furniture containing these five flame retardants in amounts greater than 1,000 ppm in any product component.

While the impact may be muted because several states, including California, New York, Vermont and Maryland, have … Continue Reading

The mysterious world of green chemistry: Maine’s green chemistry law

By Joseph Drapalski (US) and Will Troutman (US) on July 7, 2016 Posted in Green chemistry

Continuing our review of state green chemistry laws, Maine’s Safer Chemicals in Children’s Products Act primarily requires reporting the use of specified chemicals in certain children’s products based on risk and hazard criteria, although it may be used to restrict or ban use. Manufacturers of certain children’s products that contain specified chemicals must submit a one-time report to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The SCCP defines “manufacturers” as the domestic manufacturer or brand holder, and the importer or first domestic distributor if the manufacturer does not have a US presence.

Chemical Lists

The Department maintains three chemical lists … Continue Reading

UPDATE: President Obama signs TSCA reform bill into law

By Will Troutman (US) and Andy Guo (US) on June 23, 2016 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

Updating our prior post, President Obama has signed the TSCA reform bill into law. We will continue to provide updates as expectations for implementation develop.… Continue Reading

Congress passes TSCA reform bill – no relief from Prop 65

By Will Troutman (US) and Andy Guo (US) on June 14, 2016 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

After decades of stalled efforts, the House and Senate have both passed TSCA reform legislation. The bill, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 2576), is the result of extensive negotiations between the House and Senate to reconcile differences between competing TSCA reform bills in both houses. We expect the President to sign the bill in short order.

While the bill is welcome reform of a failed law, it’s primary impact will be to manufacturers, as it requires review of existing chemicals in use (eliminating TSCA’s grandfathering) and new chemicals prior to introduction into … Continue Reading

MRSL: A new standard for chemical management

By Georgina Mawer, Guest Blogger on April 4, 2016 Posted in General, Green chemistry

We are pleased to welcome guest blogger and BLC Leather Technology Centre’s chemical and regulatory advisor, Georgina Mawer, to Consumer Products Law Blog. Georgina focus on product safety assessments, including guidance on chemical testing and analysis, as well as research and delivery of technical contract work. An experienced chemical analyst, her studies focused on forensic science.

BLC is the leading independent leather testing and technology center, working with manufacturers, retailers and tanners in over 40 countries, delivering a range of leather, footwear and accessories related services which include testing, training and consultancy.

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Responsible chemical management is a fundamental requirement … Continue Reading

The mysterious world of green chemistry: update on Washington’s lead, cadmium, and phthalates enforcement

By Will Troutman (US) and Joseph Drapalski (US) on March 14, 2016 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

Continuing our coverage of the Washington’s Children’s Safe Products Act, the Washington Department of Ecology recently issued guidance clarifying its enforcement policy of the Washington Act’s prohibition on the manufacturing and sale of children’s products containing lead, cadmium, and phthalates.

In this guidance, the Department concedes that the federal Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act preempts the Washington Act as it concerns those children’s products that are subject to a federal standard for lead, phthalates, or cadmium, but advises that the Washington Act’s limits on the same contaminants apply to a broader range of consumer products. Therefore, for those children’s … Continue Reading

The mysterious world of green chemistry: Washington’s 180 on cadmium and phthalates

By Will Troutman (US) and Andy Guo (US) on February 11, 2016 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

In our previous post on Washington’s Children’s Safe Products Act, we focused on the Act’s reporting requirement. But the Act also contains provisions prohibiting the sale of children’s products containing certain chemicals above the following limits:

Lead: 90 parts per million (ppm)
Cadmium: 40 ppm; and
Phthalates in children’s products in excess of 1,000 ppm

Until the end of 2015, the industry understood these limits to be preempted.

Federal preemption

Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act around the same time as Washington enacted the Children’s Safe Products Act. The federal law contains restrictions similarto Washington’s Act, but with … Continue Reading

The mysterious world of green chemistry: Washington’s green chemistry law

By Will Troutman (US) and Joseph Drapalski (US) on February 4, 2016 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

This week we turn from federal law to the patchwork of state laws that cropped up due to TSCA’s failures. First up is Washington’s green chemistry law: the Children’s Safe Products Act. The CSPA requires manufacturers of children’s products sold in Washington to file a report with the state if their product contains certain chemicals. The report includes information on the chemical, its function in the product, and its location. Reports are publicly available. The state Department of Ecology implements and enforces the Act.

Children’s products

The CSPA does not define “children’s product,” but provides that … Continue Reading

The mysterious world of green chemistry: TSCA reform

By Will Troutman (US) on January 29, 2016 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

The Toxic Substances Control Act and resulting regulations are the federal regulatory structure for chemicals management. TSCA (tah-ska) authorizes the US EPA to review and regulate chemicals. For many existing chemicals, TSCA requires manufacturers to work with EPA to fill in data gaps on risk, and new chemicals must undergo pre-market screening.

If EPA determines a chemical poses an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment, it can place restrictions on the manufacture, import, processing, distribution, use, and disposal of the chemical. This can include bans, warning labels, and dissemination of hazard information. Whatever the action, it must be … Continue Reading

The mysterious world of green chemistry: a miniseries

By Will Troutman (US) and Joseph Drapalski (US) on January 29, 2016 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

Among the many consumer product buzzwords, green chemistry may be on top of the pile. Depending upon your job, industry, or viewpoint, it also may have a variety of meanings, triggering still other buzzwords — alternatives assessment; restricted substances list; chemicals of concern; life cycle assessment. In the same vein as our California Proposition 65 miniseries, we here at the blog hope to demystify some of the legal aspects of green chemistry, with a particular focus on federal and state regulatory schemes. Over the next several weeks, we will post a multi-part series analyzing TSCA … Continue Reading

The mysterious world of green chemistry: A miniseries

By Will Troutman (US) and Joseph Drapalski (US) on November 11, 2015 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

CA issues final three-year work plan for green chemistry

By Will Troutman (US) on April 17, 2015 Posted in Green chemistry

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control has issued its final three-year Priority Product Work Plan. The Plan outlines the types of products the Department will look at over the next three years for new product-chemical combinations to be added to the Priority Products list. The issuance of the Plan follows DTSC’s addition of the first three proposed product-chemical combinations in March 2014, and is based upon comments from DTSC’s Green Ribbon Science Panel earlier this summer and public review and comment of of the September 2014 draft. DTSC ultimately made very few changes from the draft. The … Continue Reading

California issues draft three-year work plan for green chemistry

By Will Troutman (US) on September 19, 2014 Posted in Green chemistry

On September 12, 2014, DTSC issued its draft three-year Priority Product Work Plan. The Plan outlines the types of products the Department will look at over the next three years for new product-chemical combinations to be added to the Priority Products list. The issuance of the Plan follows DTSC’s addition of the first three proposed product-chemical combinations in March 2014, and is based in part upon comments from DTSC’s Green Ribbon Science Panel earlier this summer.

Selecting product categories

In selecting product categories for the Plan, DTSC used the following screening priorities:

Product categories with products with clear pathways

California targets new products for Green Chemistry list

By Will Troutman (US) on September 8, 2014 Posted in Green chemistry

On June 25, 2014, DTSC began targeting new consumer products and chemicals to add to the California Green Chemistry list at a public meeting of the Green Ribbon Science Panel. The meeting was greatly anticipated as the next step in the development of the Green Chemistry regulation, following DTSC’s announcement of the first three proposed product-chemical combinations, or “Priority Products,” in March 2014.

The panel, comprised of experts in a variety of fields, recommends new product categories and chemicals to DTSC. DTSC then incorporates these recommendations into a work plan to identify product categories from which Priority Products … Continue Reading

California issues proposed Green Chemistry product list

By Will Troutman (US) on September 4, 2014 Posted in Green chemistry

On March 13, 2014, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control announced the long-anticipated proposed list of Initial Priority Products under the California Safer Consumer Products regulation, more commonly referred to as California Green Chemistry. The proposed list includes the following three product categories and their chemical combinations:

Children’s foam padded sleeping products containing the flame retardant TDCPP, also known as chlorinated tris. DTSC explained that this category includes nap mats with polyurethane foam, juvenile product pads in soft-sided portable cribs, infant travel bed foam, portable infant sleeper foam, playard, playpen, and bassinet foam, nap cots with foam pads, car