California Green Chemistry Takes Lists to Another Level

摘要

Grocery lists and to-do lists may be part of my daily routine, but black lists of "bad" chemicals are the bane of my existence. With lists of prohibited substances coming from all parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, Canada and now California, it's enough to make your head explode. California's green chemistry program was supposed to take a holistic approach to chemicals regulation to avoid piecemeal blacklisting of chemicals by the state legislature. Instead, the draft proposal, or straw proposal as it is commonly referred to, lists six-teen "chemicals of concern" and twenty-nine other lists of "chemi-cals of concern," all of which would be restricted under Califor-nia's draft green chemistry regu-lation. It's nearly impossible for anyone to keep track of all these substances, much less design and manufacture a product that doesn't contain them.