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Two international Conventions from the International Labor Organization (ILO; C162 Asbestos Convention) and the UN (Basel Convention) offer governments guidelines for achieving a total asbestos ban policy, but the long-term effect of these Conventions on policy implementation remains unknown. This study assessed data on asbestos bans in 108 countries and confirms that adoption of both the C162 Asbestos Convention and the Basel Convention facilitates countries in moving towards a total asbestos ban.

This webpage shows which countries around the world have implemented national asbestos bans.

This webpage summarises actions undertaken by the US Environmental Protection Agency to protect the public from exposure to asbestos under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). One of EPA’s priorities is to protect the public from adverse health effects of asbestos, a known carcinogen.

This review focuses on the world’s first process for producing an aromatic polycarbonate (PC) using CO2 as starting material. The process is an example of green and sustainable chemistry as previous methods of producing PC use not only highly toxic and corrosive phosgene made from CO and Cl2 as a monomer, but also very large amounts of CH2Cl2 and water.

Plastics are used in a vast range of building components, such as seals, windows and doors, roofing, internal and external finishes, paints, panels, varnishes, stains, pipes, guttering, cables, floor coverings, membranes, formwork, supporting structures, building skins and insulation. However, their benefits come at a growing cost to the environment and public health.

The construction industry consumes 20% of all plastics and 70% of all polyvinyl chloride (PVC) produced globally each year. Exponentially greater amounts are being produced and used, with 8.3bn tonnes of virgin plastics produced worldwide between 1950 and 2017 and global output predicted to double by 2050.

The transition to sustainable construction will involve fundamental changes in the way buildings are designed, manufactured, built and operated. As society pushes up against established planetary boundaries, professionals working in the built environment need to identify how to change our practice.

A variety of chemical substances used in plastic production may be released throughout the entire life cycle of the plastic, posing risks to human health, the environment, and recycling systems. Only a limited number of these substances have been widely studied. 

This article from Helene Wiesinger, Zhanyun Wang and Stefanie Hellweg systematically investigates plastic monomers, additives, and processing aids on the global market based on a review of 63 industrial, scientific, and regulatory data sources. In total, it identifies more than 10,000 relevant substances and categorizes them based on substance types, use patterns, and hazard classifications wherever possible. 

Healthy Building Network's report on post-consumer carpet feedstocks calls for eliminating over 40 highly toxic chemicals in carpets that threaten public health and impede recycling. These toxics are known to cause respiratory disease, heart attacks, cancer, and asthma, and impair children's developmental health. The report outlines strategies to protect public health and the environment by improving product transparency, eliminating dangerous chemicals from carpets, and increasing carpet recycling rates. It also reveals surprising efforts in the industry to remove many of these toxic substances from carpet design.

The European Commission (EC) developed a framework for the definition of criteria for SSbD chemicals and materials to steer innovation towards the green industrial transition, foster substitution or minimisation of the production and use of substances of concern, and minimize impact on human health, climate and the environment.

The framework is composed of two components: a (re)design phase in which design guiding principles and indicators are proposed to support the design of chemicals and materials, and a safety and sustainability assessment phase in which the safety and environmental sustainability of the chemical/ material are assessed. Hence, the framework encompasses both safety and sustainability assessment, conducted by means of life cycle assessment and it represents the backbone of the EC recommendations on SSBD released in December 2022. This report presents the application of the SSBD framework to an illustrative case study in order to pave the way for further refinements thereof, towards wider application in support to innovation for sustainability.

UNEP page on flame retardants, covering common types and their uses in different products, including insulation.

The health risks associated with living in houses insulated with asbestos are unknown. Loose-fill asbestos was used to insulate some houses in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). This study published in The Lancet compared the incidence of mesothelioma and other cancers in residents of the ACT who did and did not live in these houses.