eliminating toxic chemicals in products: … toxic chemicals in products: strategies for success...

Eliminating Toxic Chemicals in Products: Strategies for Success

CleanMed April 25, 2013

CleanMed 2013 Conference, Boston, MA Category: Safer Materials/Chemicals

Speakers

Roger McFadden — Vice President, Senior Scientist, Staples

Monica Nakielski — Project Manager, Sustainable Initiatives, Partners HealthCare

Mark Rossi — Co-Director, Clean Production Action

— Co-Chair, BizNGO

Session Objectives

Create a chemicals policy for managing chemicals in products

Implement a “chemicals in products” management program

Gain organizational support for addressing chemicals of concern in products

Leverage resources and expertise for implementing a chemicals management program

Creating and Implementing an Effective “Chemicals in Products” Management Policy


Roger McFadden Vice President, Senior Scientist Staples [email protected]

Presentation Outline

• Sustainability is a team sport

• Current trends and concerns in healthcare

• Impact of Product Based Pollution

• Benefits of transitioning to safer alternatives

• Overview of Staples Chemicals Policy

• Tools and Resources

Sustainability is a Team Sport at Staples

• No single organization can do it alone

• Partnerships are synergist

• Collaboration is essential: – CleanMed

– Practice GreenHealth

– Health Care Without Harm

– Healthy Hospital Initiative

– BizNGO Working Group

– Green Chemistry Commerce Council

– RIT Golisano Institute of Sustainability

– Many Others

Current Trends and Concerns in Health Care

• Hospital acquired infections (HAI)

• Chemicals of concern in health care supply chain

• Growing demand for safer products and processes in the health care environment

Vulnerable sub-populations – Children’s Hospitals

Elderly care facilities

Patients with compromised immune systems

• Workplace wellness and safety for health care staff

• Emphasis on transparency, ingredient disclosure, chemical policies, green certifications, green chemistry and green cleaning

Identify and transition to safer alternatives

Prevent pollution

Avoid toxins

Reduce emissions

Eliminate waste

Conserve energy

Lower total life-cycle costs

Eliminate product duplication

Green their supply chain

Measure and report success

Progressive Healthcare Organizations Are Asking Suppliers to Help Them Meet Sustainability Objectives

Each of these objectives requires more transparency and communication throughout the chain supply

Chemicals are a key element of materials, products and processes in our supply chains

• The introduction of new chemicals over the past few decades has provided significant value to product designers.

• New chemicals have helped improve the quality, efficiency and convenience in our workplaces, homes and communities.

BUT…. all chemicals are not created equal

• Different hazard traits

• Different human health & eco-toxicity endpoints

• Different exposure routes

• Different degradation & combustion by-products

• Different pollution potential

Progressive Organizations and Businesses are Identifying Chemicals of High Concern

• Aniline

• Benzidine dyes

• Bis (2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP)

• Bisphenol A

• Cadmium

• Dibutyl phthalate

• Diethyl phthalate

• 2-butoxyethanol

• Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether

• Ethylene glycol monomethyl ether

• Formaldehyde

• Heptane

• Hexane

• Hexavalent chromium

• Lead and lead compounds

• Mercury and Methyl Mercury

• Nonylphenol ethoxylates

• Paradichlorobenzene

• Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)

• Permethrin

• Polyvinyl chloride

• Propoxur

• Safrole

• Trichloroethylene

• Triclosan

• Trisodium nitrotriacetate

Staples Restricted Substances List

Safer Consumer Products Help Safeguard Our Organizations

• Eliminates or reduces risk to brand.

• Creates shared value for consumer, community and company.

• Rewards suppliers for innovative solutions.

• Helps protect human health

• Helps protect natural and built environment both now and in the future.

Staples Chemical Policy Primary Objective

Staples seeks to offer organizations of all sizes products that are inherently safer for human and environmental health and that address environmental impacts throughout their lifecycle.

• Endorsed the BizNGO Principles for Safer Chemicals.

• Announced Staples “Race to the Top” Chemicals Management Strategy

• Developed and published a Staples “Bad Actors” RSL.

• Prepared a Staples “Chemicals Policy” currently being implemented

Staples’ Strategy and Policy for Transitioning to Safer Chemicals

Traditional Business

Sustainability Leadership Social Responsibility

Legal Compliance

Led by Legal Risk Aversion

Most Businesses

Social Responsibility

Environmental Protection, Philanthropy

Led by CSR, PR or HR Separate from the business

Growing Number of Businesses

Business Value from Smaller

Footprint and Safer Alternatives

Driven from the top Led by line management

Integrated into the business

Don’t get in legal trouble

Be a good

corporate citizen

Tap into new

sources of value

Suppliers Are Not Created Equal! Different Approaches to Sharing Chemical Information

Overarching Goals of Staples Chemicals Policy

• Respond to customer and consumer demand for safer chemicals, materials and products.

• Be proactive and ask suppliers to be more transparent about chemicals in products

• Avoid product based pollution

• Avoid hazard at product design stage

• Promote products that are made using green chemistry principles

• Make an orderly transition to safer materials.

Staples Chemicals Policy

• Requests product chemistry and hazard endpoint data from suppliers;

• Prioritizes chemicals of high concern for elimination;

• Creates collaboration with suppliers to:

• Avoid chemicals of concern

• Substitute safer alternatives

• Develops a scorecard with suppliers to measure progress and evaluate results.

“The BizNGO Guide to Safer Chemicals is a much-needed, pragmatic guide for how businesses can start on the path to safer chemicals. We welcome this much needed resource to the chemicals element of the sustainability equation.”

Roger McFadden, Vice President, Senior Scientist Staples

http://www.bizngo.org/pdf/GuideToSaferChemicals-v1_2.pdf

BizNGO Principles for Safer Chemicals Endorse and Implement




How Staples is Using the Safer Chemicals Guide

• Implement the BizNGO Principles for Safer Chemicals

• Guide suppliers and encourage them to bring safer products to market

• Create a meaningful and structured dialogue with our suppliers

• Fill chemical data gaps and improve data accuracy and quality

• Identify and/or validate safer chemicals, materials, processes and products

• Set realistic and measurable goals for our organization

• Map and measure continuous and incremental improvement

Green Screen for Safer Chemicals: Comparative Hazard Assessment Tool

A Decision Making Tool to Help Companies Identify Safer Chemical

Material Safety Data Sheets now called SDS Good Place to Begin but … Usually NOT Enough info

• OSHA regulatory response document

• Not all products containing chemicals of high concern require an MSDS

• OSHA MSDS does not require full ingredient disclosure

• Exempts disclosure of harmful chemicals below 10,000 ppm

• Chemicals that are identified as confidential business information by a company do not have to be disclosed on MSDS

• MSDS are virtually unregulated for accuracy, quality and completeness

Health Product Declaration Better way to communicate chemical information

Managing Chemical Risk Lessons Learned

• Knowing is better than not knowing.

• Action is better than inaction.

• Eliminating chemical hazard is better than managing exposure.

• Transparency/disclosure is better than vagueness or obscurity.

• Orderly proactive transition is better than abrupt reaction.

Everyone Wins With Safer Chemicals

• Creates shared value for consumer, community and company.

• Suppliers are able to leverage their innovation & differentiation

• Chemicals of concern become obsolete as they are replaced with safer alternatives

• Helps protect human health

• Helps protect natural and built environment both now and in the future.

Gaining organizational support and leveraging resources and expertise for implementing a

chemicals management program


Monica Nakielski Project Manager, Sustainable Initiatives Partners HealthCare [email protected]

CleanMed 2013_Eliminating Toxic Chemicals in Products: Strategies for Success _April 25, 2013

Partners HealthCare System

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McLean Hospital

North Shore Medical Center

Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

Massachusetts General Hospital

Brigham & Women’s Hospital

Newton Wellesley Hospital

Brigham & Women’s Faulkner

Hospital

Martha’s Vineyard Hospital

Nantucket Cottage Hospital

20 mile radius

4M OUTPATIENT VISITS

150,000 INPATIENT STAYS

65,000 EMPLOYEES

16.7M SQUARE FEET OF OWNED/LEASED SPACE

PRIMARY TEACHING AFFILIATE OF HARVARD

MEDICAL SCHOOL

Spaulding Cape Cod

Rehabilitation Hospital


Why Chemicals Management

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To support Partners Healthcare System in becoming a leader for

promoting a healthy environment, optimizing the care of our

patients and the well-being of our employees while conserving

the resources we expend.

Partners cannot be viewed as contributing to the health problems

manifested in the patients we are treating.


Chemicals Management is Tough

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Halons

Polystyrene

Lead

Mercury

Cadmium

Hexavalent

Chromium

CFC

HCFC

VOCs

Urea

Formaldehyde

Arsenic, penta & creosote

HFR

PVC & other

chlorinated

plastics

Copper

Short PFCs

Polyurethane

Tins

Chlorinated

paraffins

EPA

Perkins+

Will LBC

Phenol

formal-

dehyde LEED-HC

Phthalates

PBDE BPA

Long PFC

LEED Pilot

GGHC

More

carcinogens

More PBTs,

asthmagens &

endocrine

disruptors More mutagens,

reproductive,

developmental

& neurotoxicants

CPA-HBN Red List

PAHs, Phenol,

PU, more metals &

other REACH chems

LBC watch

Healthy Building Network © 2011


Chemicals Management Process

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Chemical

Centric

Organization

Mobilize change

through leadership

Translate goals into

operational terms

Align the hospital to

the chemicals

strategy

Motivate to make

chemicals of concern

everyone’s job

Govern to make the

chemicals journey a

continual process


Implementing Chemicals Management

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Gaining organizational support

And leveraging resources


Next Steps

Coordinate efforts with partnering NGO’s

Coordinate efforts with other hospitals and systems

Coordinate efforts with vendors and service providers

Continued support to foster and grow chemicals

management within the system

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* ASL University, http://lifeprint.com/index.htm

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