logo
logo
Sign in

What can we think of when many people talk about industrial chemicals

avatar
zhanzhan
What can we think of when many people talk about industrial chemicals

When many people think of industrial chemical products, they think of the scary-looking yellow barrels containing unknown but almost certainly harmful sticky substances. The reason this image is so common is because the public knows little about the specific characteristics used in manufacturing, industry, and energy production.

But a new initiative of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) hopes to change this situation through a strategy to provide the public with more information about the chemical substances it produces. The Global Product Strategy is part of the United Nations Environment Programme’s efforts to ensure that the use and production of chemicals have the least impact on the environment and human health.

As part of this plan, ICCA, which represents 56 chemical industry associations on six continents, has established a database detailing the risk and safety information of more than 1,000 chemicals used and produced by its member companies. Greg Bond, director of Dow Chemical's Product Liability Company, calls safety assessment "the way to bite, eat, and eat."

"Bite" is an overview, there are 8 to 10 points to explain the safety of the product. Bond said: "This is for eighth-grade students who have the ability to go to medical school."

This "snack" includes a three to four page product safety assessment with more complex wording. Its target population is those who want to learn a lot of information about the product, but lack formal chemistry training.

This meal is prepared for EHS professionals. It provides a reference for those with a chemical background and can be used to obtain more technical information to guide safety assessment.

Bond said: "Transparency and increased transparency are essential to increase public confidence. This is our goal." "This means that the public will be more confident that the products they buy are safe to use."

Another aspect of increasing confidence includes making chemicals more environmentally friendly—that is, reducing their impact on the environment and human health. Bond said Dow Chemical is working to increase the proportion of revenue from these more sustainable products.

"It's not just about mitigating unintended consequences," he said. "We are studying cradle-to-cradle products: use resources more efficiently, minimize their footprint, and provide more sustainable solutions."

Bond said that this part involves paying attention to the safety of "green" alternatives. "When we seek to replace existing chemical substances with more environmentally friendly chemicals, we want to ensure that the substances you replace are safe."

This is where GPS comes into play, helping chemical companies to identify situations where the safety of alternative substances is insufficient

But this movement is not always consistent with the full openness that the Global Positioning System (GPS) promotes for many traditionally used chemicals. Bond said: "If we want to innovate green chemistry, we must be able to protect these investments from competitors who are unwilling to invest." "We believe that we have the right to protect our process technology."

However, the US Environmental Protection Agency does not always agree with this statement. In early June, the Environmental Protection Agency applied for confidentiality of some 150 chemical substances, and disclosed the names and results of a series of safety research chemical substances to the public for dispersant formulations and consumer products such as air fresheners, non-stick, tensile materials, and refractory materials. , Nonylphenol compounds, perfluorinated compounds and lead.

In response to the EPA's actions, Bond said that Dow Chemical complied with the regulations to declassify those substances that are no longer protected by confidentiality statements. He said the company is also "rigorously evaluating" its future confidentiality requirements to ensure compliance with EPA standards.

Bond said that ultimately, achieving the goals embodied by GPS requires the joint efforts of the government and enterprises. "The best chemical management system is a combination of sound science and risk-based supervision, cost-effective and fair execution, and voluntary industry actions."

collect
0
avatar
zhanzhan
guide
Zupyak is the world’s largest content marketing community, with over 400 000 members and 3 million articles. Explore and get your content discovered.
Read more