Green chemistry: California looks into nontoxic green chemicals

On the heels of green clean week comes news that California officials agree that many chemicals used in consumer products are not actually safe for us or the environment. The L.A. Times reports that state officials and researchers trying to find new green chemicals to replace the old, questionable ones. Why?:

About 80,000 compounds are used commercially in the United States, and many are polluting the water and air, accumulating in human bodies, spreading globally in the environment and harming wildlife. For nearly all of them, the effects on human health are unknown....

Exposure to toxic compounds is costing Californians an estimated $2.6 billion a year in medical expenses for cancer, asthma and other diseases and lost wages, according to the report by [UC Berkeley research scientist Michael] Wilson and other UC Berkeley and UCLA researchers.

To address those findings, the state Department of Toxic Substances Control's unveiled today a "Green Chemistry Phase 1 Report" with 818 ideas to be considered for "spurring innovation that could lead to nontoxic substitutes for many of the thousands of chemicals on which industries rely." Detailed recommendations are expected to be sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in July.

Although it's too early to know how tough the recommendations will be, the fact that California's considering "the environmental effects and "life cycle" costs" of the chemicals we use sounds promising. According to the L.A. Times, "three of the fundamental policies involve creating a new regulatory and enforcement system, strengthening consumer protection laws and better informing consumers about toxic substances in products." So we could, in fact, get a regulatory system with some teeth out of this report.

In the meantime, you'll have to do your own research to make sure that the products you're using don't have harmful chemicals in them. To that end, here are the posts from green clean week to help you pick out safer cleaning products. And Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep cosmetics database can help you pick out the personal care products that are safest for you and the planet.

You can read more about the California Green Chemistry Initiative here, and even sign up to receive e-mail updates.

Top image via dtsc.ca.gov; bottom image via ewg.org