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ASTM Publishes Green Chemistry Standard

ASTM International has published a Standard Guide for Making Sustainability-Related Chemical Selection Decisions in the Life-Cycle of Products, E3027-15. The guide “outlines sustainability factors for product manufacturers to consider when comparing alternative chemicals or ingredients across the life-cycle of a product,” and is geared towards assisting manufacturers in complying with green chemistry laws like California’s Safer Consumer Products Regulations. According to ASTM’s press release:

Michael Schmeida, chairman of ASTM’s Committee on Sustainability (E60), notes that the new standard provides guidance on how to perform an analysis of alternative chemicals that is now a regulatory requirement in U.S. states like California. An example is the analysis of flame retardants in children’s bedding, an important consumer safety concern. Other products that are being considered for such analysis in California include fishing gear and adhesives.

However, the standard does not provide guidance on how to conduct chemical risk assessments, alternatives assessments and other evaluations typically required under such green chemistry-type laws.

ASTM International is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a variety of applications. ASTM standards, although wholly voluntary, frequently establish de facto industry standards. It remains to be seen whether and how ASTM E3027-15 will be adopted across industries.

Ms. Grimaldi maintains a diverse environmental law practice focusing on chemical and product regulation and litigation defense. Her practice areas include Proposition 65, California's Safer Consumer Products Regulations, California's Rigid Plastic Packaging Container Act and the federal Toxic Substances Control Act. Ms. Grimaldi graduated from the University of California Hastings College of the Law magna cum laude and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Bacteriology from University of California, Davis. Prior to attending law school, she worked as a research assistant in laboratories at the University of California, San Francisco Cancer Research Institute and at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.