A major new report by a group that advocates clean-manufacturing processes offers “best practices” advice to businesses based on the successful and profitable strategies for reducing chemical toxic risks beyond regulatory requirements by companies in the cosmetics, computers, health care, office furniture, and other industry sectors.

The report by Clean Production Action, which promotes safer and cleaner manufacturing processes and products, provides a first-of-its-kind review of six case studies of companies that have adopted environmentally friendly strategies for eliminating toxic chemicals from their products and/or building materials. While many companies have expressed an interest in adopting green chemistry strategies, debate lingers over the effectiveness of various measures. The Clean Production Action report may represent a major step forward in providing industry with advice about successful practices for reducing chemical risks and becoming profitable through green chemistry.

Based on the case studies, the report -- “Healthy Business Strategies for Transforming the Toxic Chemical Economy” -- presents real-world examples for companies to follow in adopting green chemistry strategies. The study was conducted with funding from private foundations that support sustainability efforts.

The report is intended to demonstrate to companies that “you can develop a program to move away from toxic chemistry and succeed as a business,” contrary to chemical industry arguments that businesses will stall if they stop using currently available hazardous materials, says Mark Rossi, research director for Clean Production Action who spoke at a June 27 telephone press conference announcing the report.

Representatives from six companies that have adopted “healthy business strategies” in response to chemical toxicity concerns also spoke during the press conference. The companies are Kaiser Permanente; Interface Fabrics; Hennes & Mauritz (H&M); Herman Miller; Avalon Natural Products; and Dell, Inc.

During the conference call, each of the companies spoke about the importance of supply chain relationships to both obtain information about chemicals and, when chemicals are unacceptable, to create changes in products. Company representatives also stressed that public policy in the United States is less supportive of the green chemistry goals they are pursuing than policy in other countries, such as European Union nations. Some of the companies lobby at the state and federal level for stronger laws. But public policy is not the only driver for greening companies. Trying to differentiate products as green in the marketplace and “trying to change markets” are also motives company officials mentioned.

A key distinction the report makes is among companies that practice healthy chemical strategies and those that are “toxics-ignorant” because they choose “to know little about the chemicals and materials” used in their products and the hazards they pose. Similarly, “Toxics-compliant firms do the minimum required by law, seeking only to conform with regulations that govern worker health, handling and storage of and pollution control of toxic chemicals,” according to the report.

The report recounts a decision in March 2006 by Reebok, the sports products company, to recall 300,000 charm bracelets after one was linked to the lead-poisoning death of a four-year-old boy in Minnesota. A Reebok spokeswoman was quoted as saying the bracelets were made by “a third-party, independent vendor in China” and the company’s CEO was personally leading the investigation into how the lead content could be so high. A month later, Pepsi Cola agreed to eliminate lead-containing labels on soft drink bottles imported from Mexico and paid a $1 million civil penalty for violating California’s Prop 65 toxics warning law. These examples illustrate the need for companies to be aware of what toxics are in their products.

“Unfortunately, the gap in chemical awareness is more the rule than the exception in most businesses,” according to the report. While most companies think they sell products, not chemicals, “firms in industries as diverse as electronics, clothing, office furniture, and medical devices are finding that not only do they ‘sell chemicals,’ but they are responsible for the health effects and safety of each of these chemicals as well,” the report states.

Behind the growing number of companies focusing on the hazards of chemicals in their products is new technology that is detecting chemicals in human blood, breast milk, and urine. “Scientists are divided over what the presence of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic substances means for public health,” the report notes. While synthetic chemicals in the body do not automatically result in adverse health effects, “their ubiquity doesn’t mean there is no effect either.”

Most chemicals on the market -- some 96 percent -- have little or no toxicity test data, and scientists have not yet assessed the risks from being exposed to combinations of chemicals, the report adds. Faced with that, healthy companies have adopted the precautionary principle -- which calls for a “better safe than sorry” standard when faced with uncertain risks -- as a fundamental policy.

“Brands, retailers, and original equipment manufacturers are especially at risk as they are increasingly being asked to insure the health and safety of their products,” according to the report. “Advocacy groups regularly rate the toxic chemicals policies and programs of firms as varied as autos, cosmetics, furniture and carpets.”

In response to toxicity concerns, Oakland, California-based Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest nonprofit health-care provider with 8.2 million members, adopted an environmental stewardship vision that is integrated into its purchasing decisions. The company is a major buyer of medical equipment and supplies, building materials, interior furnishings, office supplies, and food. In the mid-1990s, the company began incorporating environmentally preferable purchasing specifications into its contracts for medical, chemical, and building products, said Tom Cooper of the company’s standards, planning, and design division.

A key example described by Kaiser Permanente of its stewardship policy was the company’s efforts in 2002 to purchase carpeting that was free from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and met other demanding specifications. No such carpets existed. So the company teamed up with a manufacturer, Collins & Aikman, based in Dalton, GA, which within two years developed a new, durable, PVC-free carpet that met environmental and performance standards.

Atlanta, GA-based Interface Fabrics, the world’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet, or carpet tile, and a major producer of interior fabrics and upholstery products, has developed a new commercial interior fabric that is made from 100 percent renewable biopolymers. To ensure only benign dye and finish materials were used, the company created a “screening protocol that goes beyond government requirements for protecting the environment and human health,” according to Interface director for environmental management, Wendy Porter. The protocol “is a new dimension for sustainable development,” Porter said, noting that it asks, “How do we become benign by design?”

Clothing retailer H&M, based in Stockholm, Sweden, first introduced a chemical restrictions policy in 1995 and revised it a number of times, most recently in 2005. Today, some 170 chemicals or categories are on the restricted list. In implementing the policy, the company had to avoid compromising the look and feel of its garments. But H&M is not trying to keep its chemical expertise proprietary and instead works closely with other textile companies on their chemicals policies, according to corporate social responsibility manager Ingrid Schullstrom.

Office and other furnishings designer Herman Miller established a “design for environment” (DfE) program in 1999 that builds environment-friendly products in terms of material chemistry, disassembly, and recyclability. The companies first totally DfE chair was PVC-free and included many more recyclable components and won numerous design awards, according to company executive Scott Sharon.

Petaluma, CA-based Avalon Natural Products, which sells environmental and health cosmetics, responded to a 2004 European Union ban on the use of 1,135 carcinogens and reproductive toxins in cosmetics by reformulating its products, whereas other cosmetics companies argued that the ban would be expensive and unnecessary given the minuscule amount of chemicals in the products. Avalon is now the fastest growing brand in its category, according to Avalon Organics vice president Morris Shriftman, who commented, “In many ways we’re living in a chemical soup.”

Computer company Dell, Inc., headquartered in Round Rock, TX, has a chemicals use policy and supports the precautionary principle as a result of a collaborative process that involved internal and outside advisers, according to Dell’s manager of worldwide environmental affairs, Mark Newton. To implement its chemicals policy, the company maintains a “banned and restricted substance program;” chooses designs and materials that avoid the restricted materials; prohibits suppliers through contracts from using the substances; and substitutes chemicals of concerns with viable alternatives. Since 200, Dell has led several industry consortia to develop solutions for greener chemistry.