Enhance Implementation of California’s Green Chemistry Initiative

PI: Gina Solomon, Public Health Institute, Peggy Reynolds, UCSF

Under the Green Chemistry Initiative, in 2008, the California legislature enacted two groundbreaking laws designed to protect Californians from toxic chemicals in products and provide the public with more information about chemical hazards: the Safer Consumer Products Program and Toxics Information Clearinghouse for data on chemical Hazard Traits. After ten years of progress, Gina Solomon of Public Health Initiative and Peggy Reynolds of UCSF evaluated the program’s effectiveness. They found strengths, such as advancing the public’s right to know what is in their products, but also weaknesses that influence the safety of products. Findings were presented in a legislative briefing in January 2019 and in a joint hearing of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety & Toxic Materials and the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality. Following the hearing, SB 392 was introduced by Senator Ben Allen, which included many of the recommendations from the report. The findings and recommendations were also published in California’s Green Chemistry Initiative at Age 10: An Evaluation of Its Progress and Promise. 2018 and “The California Safer Consumer Products Program: Evaluating a Novel Chemical Policy Strategy” published in New Solutions, May 2019.

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