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The Secretariat of the Strategic Approach to Chemicals Management (SAICM) and the University of Cape Town (UCT) have launched a Community of Practice (CoP) on Chemicals and SDGs to bring representatives from different sectors together and to create a learning network around issues related to addressing Chemicals and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is a summary of the discussion on Environmental Injustice Issues to Consider for Chemical Risk, which took place on 23 November 2022.

Presenters: Rico Euripidou (groundWork)

The Secretariat of the Strategic Approach to Chemicals Management (SAICM) and the University of Cape Town (UCT) have established a Community of Practice (CoP) on Lead in Paint to bring representatives from different sectors together and to create a learning network around issues related to the elimination of Lead Paint. This is a summary of the discussion on Compliance with Lead Paint Laws, which took place on 16 November 2022.

Presenters: Steve Wolfson (US EPA), Dr Faridah Hussein Were (University of Nairobi), University of Nairobi (Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Philippines), Isabel Artagaveytia (Uruguayan Ministry of Environment)

Pharos provides resources to assess human and environmental health hazards of chemicals and building materials, plus tools to collaborate to find safer alternatives. The goal of this effort is to reduce the use of hazardous chemicals and improve the inherent safety of materials and products.

Pharos provides hazard, use, and exposure information on 178,411 chemicals and 220 different kinds of building products.

Hazard Assessments

Certified GreenScreen assessments in the public domain or for sale.

Hazard Lists

Authoritative scientific lists for health and environmental hazards and restricted substance lists.

Common Products

Common contents and hazards of 220 different kinds of building products.

Data Services

Pharos data in bulk and expert analysis from HBN researchers.

The SIN List is a comprehesive list of hazardous chemicals that are used in a wide variety of products and manufacturing processes around the globe. The SIN abbreviation – Substitute It Now – implies that these chemicals should be removed as soon as possible as they pose a threat to human health and the environment.

The SIN List is developed by the non-profit ChemSec in close collaboration with scientists and technical experts, as well as an advisory committee of leading environmental, health, consumer organisations. The list is based on credible, publicly available information from existing databases and scientific studies.

List of chemicals of concern created by the architectural and design company Perkins + Will

The Living Building Challenge (LBC) Red List represents the “worst in class” materials, chemicals, and elements known to pose serious risks to human health and the greater ecosystem that are prevalent in the building products industry. The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) believes that these materials should be phased out of production due to human and/or environmental health and toxicity concerns. While there are certainly other items that could be added, this list was determined by selecting items with the greatest potential impact if they were significantly curbed or eliminated from the building industry. ILFI worked with the Healthy Building Network and the Pharos Project to develop the original Red List in 2006.

Red List classes are added or retired with each new version of the LBC Standard. The revised chemical groupings that were established as part of the LBC 4.0 release more suitably categorize Red List chemicals by function, application within the building products sector and structural similarity. The chemical classes are described below, and the chemicals included in each group are detailed in the 2022 LBC Red List CASRN Guide. While all chemicals in the 2022 LBC Red List CASRN Guide fall within the list of chemical classes outlined in the Standard, not necessarily all chemicals in an LBC Red List Class are included in the enforceable CASRN Guide. The CASRN Guide itself is typically updated on an annual basis in January, and seeks to ensure that the Red List remains a leadership tool and reflects best available science.

The Six Classes is a visionary program of the Green Science Policy Institute, whose aim is to reduce the use of harmful chemicals in consumer and other products. It focuses on entire classes or groups of chemicals of concern, rather than phasing out problematic chemicals one at a time.

This approach of tackling entire groups of chemicals is needed because more than 80,000 chemicals are used in the U.S. Many have not been well studied and their impacts on human and environmental health are not understood. Even so, some chemicals known to be harmful are commonly found in consumer products. Moreover, when a harmful chemical is phased out, often after years of research and advocacy, the replacement may be a “chemical cousin” with similar structure and potential for harm.

The Six Classes approach can prevent such “regrettable substitutions” and accelerate reductions in toxics use.

In its work on each of the Six Classes, the Green Science Policy Institute convenes scientific experts, motivates needed studies, and publishes research results in peer-reviewed journals. Its findings are communicated widely, as part of its work for science-based change and for moving towards safer chemicals and/or technologies. A key element of the approach is to bring together scientists and decision-makers from business, government, academia, and nonprofits to develop coordinated strategies for reducing the production and use of chemicals of concern.

Chemicals production and consumption is set to double by 2030, from a $5 trillion industry globally in 2017, with production set to increase, mainly in emerging economies. If chemicals production is doubled, chemical pollution must not double as a consequence – rather we should aim to significantly reduce it from current levels.

Current international attempts at the massive undertaking of addressing chemical pollution are not working. For the world to solve the major environmental and health challenges we face, there must be a sustainable chemicals revolution. We can only achieve this through senior-level engagement with the chemical sciences community through an authoritative, intergovernmental science-policy interface.

The Royal Society of Chemistry engaged with scientists in their community to develop the vision for a chemicals strategy, relevant to any nation in principle.  Four pillars were identified on which any chemicals strategy has to be based: education, innovation, circular economy and regulation. National governments must invest in these areas and create a responsible framework of action for chemicals management.