Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants California to require full disclosure of chemicals used in consumer products to wean industry and consumers off toxic compounds.
The governor endorsed the consumer disclosure concept and five related strategies Tuesday on the recommendation of his environmental protection secretary, Linda Adams.
"These recommendations usher in a new era of how we look at household products, from our children's toys to the plastic we use to make shampoo bottles to the varnish on our wood furniture," Schwarzenegger said in a press statement.
The strategies, a mix of recommended regulations and voluntary actions, represent a new approach to regulating toxic chemicals.
Instead of focusing on toxic substances mainly as hazardous waste, regulators would examine the chemicals every step of the way, from when the product is designed, manufactured, used and recycled or disposed.
The recommendations "constitute a far-reaching, market-driven strategy with an ambitious aim – the launch of a new chemicals framework and a quantum shift in environmental protection," Adams wrote in the California Green Chemistry Initiative's final report, released Tuesday.
About 644 million pounds of chemicals are sold in California daily, according to the report.
"We need to know what's in these ingredients. We need to know what their toxicity is," said Maureen Gorsen, director of the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.
The environmental and human health risks are unknown or uncertain for the vast majority of the estimated 83,000 chemicals used in consumer products, ranging from plastic food packaging to cosmetics.
One new law already authorizes the toxics department to identify and prioritize chemicals of concern in a public online "toxics clearinghouse." Another law enacted this year establishes a California Green Products Registry for manufacturers to voluntarily enter chemical ingredients of products and their environmental and health effects, as measured under state-approved standards.
Dan Jacobson, legislative director for Environment California, called the recommendations "the perfect first step" to promote use of safer chemicals.
"Those guys couldn't have been stronger in their statements," Jacobson said of Adams' and Schwarzenegger's endorsements.
State officials also want California colleges and universities to include green chemistry in their curriculums so future chemists and engineers design products that will be safer and easily reused and will not persist in the environment.
Call The Bee's Chris Bowman, (916) 321-1069.
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