PUBLICATIONS
Articles by IEHN Staff
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A FORMULA FOR BUILDING A GREEN CHEMISTRY FUTURE
Richard A. Liroff
April 2010
This first part of a four part series lays out "Big Hairy Audacious Goals" for green chemistry in the year 2030. The series complements a prior series on benchmarking corporate toxic footprints.
Click here to view the article and click here to view the benchmark.
A GAME PLAN FOR ACCELERATING GREEN CHEMISTRY
Richard A. Liroff
April 2010
There's a compelling case for increased, organized, public and private sector investment in green chemistry.
This article focuses on sectoral and geographic approaches, sharing corporate innovations, and changing corporate management structure.]
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HOW POLICY CHANGE CAN SPUR GREEN CHEMISTRY
Richard A. Liroff
April 2010
Changes in regulatory policy can go a long way to speed transition to a future of green chemistry. This article looks at proposed policy changes and at lessons learned from the non-regulatory Presidential Green Chemistry Awards Program and the Department of Energy's Biomass Program.
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MODELS FOR SCALING UP GREEN CHEMISTRY
Richard A. Liroff
April 2010
Two landmark private sector initiatives are models for the development of green chemistry, demonstrating how a robust federal initiative could speed the realization of green chemistry.
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LEGAL FRONTIERS OF SUSTAINABILITY
Sanford Lewis
April 2010
In this two part series at CSRWire Talkback, Sanford Lewis asks, "Is Sustainability a Fiduciary Duty of Corporate Directors?" and "Will Integrated Financial and Sustainability Reporting Become a Legal Mandate?"
To view Part 1, click here and to view Part 2 click here.
THE CHEMICALS THAT SHOULD BE ON YOUR RADAR...BUT PROBABLY AREN'T
Richard A. Liroff
February 2010
Companies ask me, "What's the next chemical I need to worry about?"
Consider endocrine disruptors (EDs). As a class, these chemicals can have profound and unparalleled impacts on families, communities and businesses because of their possible links to learning disabilities, selected cancers, reproductive disorders, diabetes and other health disorders.
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WHAT DOES THE FDA'S BPA DECISION MEAN FOR COMPANIES?
Richard A. Liroff
January 2010
FDA is now promoting reduced exposure to BPA. So companies will need to change their BPA communication strategies to better align themselves with consumer concerns. Companies could gain reputational benefits and free media attention from supporting proposed legislation restricting use of BPA.
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an updated benchmark for corporate green chemistry practices
Richard A. Liroff
November 2009
This benchmark, with its companion case examples and links to tools, can help you figure out how to reduce your company's toxic footprint by reducing and eliminating "worst of the worst" toxic chemicals and promoting use of "best of the best" green ones.
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how companies are committing to reduce toxic footprints
Richard A. Liroff
December 2009
Companies need to move towards using greener chemicals because the principal drivers demanding such change -- science, regulation, and B2B environmentally preferable purchasing programs -- are surging and will intensify.
This article describes practices of corporate leaders.
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getting a grip on your company's toxic footprint
Richard A. Liroff
December 2009
At first glance it seems an impossible task to take on the hundreds or thousands of chemicals in your company's supply chain, but a number of companies have developed useful approaches to addressing this enormous challenge.
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the benefits of coming clean on your company's toxic footprint
Richard A. Liroff
December 2009
Smart companies have begun to take dramatic steps forward in disclosing potentially toxic ingredients to investors and their customers. Smart companies downstream in the supply chain--especially consumer-facing ones--should also align their public positions on reforming chemical policy with the health concerns and information needs of their customers.
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don't ask Don't Tell: a Bad Framework for Risk Analysis By Directors and Investors
Sanford Lewis
November 2009
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is revisiting the issue of contingent liability disclosures. It may be about to take a step backward. Will we have to wait for a flood of lawsuits, or will regulators act to establish clearer reporting rules that encourage better management of risks? This article offers some positive suggestions.
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nanomaterials: why your company should sweat the small stuff
Richard A. Liroff
September 2009
Nanomaterials have the potential to yield extraordinary social benefits. but they're substantially unregulated, underassessed for impacts on health and environment, and they've raised cautionary flags for insurers. Here are some of the key questions your company might ask while doing due diligence on nanomaterials.
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why the adage "the dose makes the poison" can be toxic to corporate chemicals policy
Richard A. Liroff
June 2009
If you're a senior corporate strategist and controversy erupts over some chemical found in small amounts in your product, if your science advisor or trade association says "the dose makes the poison," get a second opinion. To avoid toxic lockout from the marketplace, you should heed the updated version: "The dose and the timing make the poison."
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don't know your company's toxic footprint? Ignorance will not be bliss
Richard A. Liroff
May 2009
The noose continues to tighten around toxic chemicals in products and corporate supply chains, due to new regulations and corporate safer chemicals purchasing programs. Corporate strategic planners should add assessing and reducing their companies' "toxic footprints" to their "to do" lists.
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reducing pesticide use: how to cut costs and be a green hero
Richard A. Liroff
April 2009
Leading companies have been systematically reducing their pesticide use, cutting costs while also lowering hazards to farm families, farm workers, local communities and the environment. Smart companies seeking to make their supply chains more sustainable will profit from learning what industry leaders already know about living with fewer pesticides.
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When the 'FDA Approves Salmonella,' How Should Your Company Respond?
Richard A. Liroff
March 2009
There's growing public unease that government health and safety agencies have been compromised by anti-science, anti-regulatory interests and cannot be trusted. So it's not enough for consumer-facing companies to declare "we're in compliance with regulations". Here are the extra steps some companies are taking.
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Is your company ready for CPR?
Richard A. Liroff
February 2009
CPR (Chemical Policy Reform) is coming. CPR is a long overdue, systematic and fundamental overhaul of the basic approach the U.S. federal government takes to managing hazards from chemicals in products. Is your company ready?
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toxic lockout
Richard A. Liroff
May/June 2008
It is smart business practice for corporate managers to look beyond compliance with federal regulations — which badly lag state and foreign laws and many private sector programs — to strategically manage business risks from hazardous chemicals in the products they make and sell.
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TOXICITY AND HUMAN HEALTH
BSR/IEHN
April 2008
This 3 page "Word From the Street" briefing paper is a joint publication of Business for Social Responsibility and IEHN. It includes a table of risks and benefits to businesses from management of toxic chemicals in products and criteria for evaluating business risks.
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Richard A. Liroff
November 16, 2006
Companies are facing accelerating pressures from governments and from other companies to adopt safer chemicals principles and practices; corporate strategic planners had better pay attention, lest they get shut out of markets.
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Richard A. Liroff
April 2006
Green chemistry is poised for take-off in the business community, as requirements to reduce and eliminate chemicals of concern cascade through supply chains.
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BENCHMARKING CORPORATE MANAGEMENT OF SAFER CHEMICALS IN CONSUMER PRODUCTS—A TOOL FOR INVESTORS AND SENIOR EXECUTIVES
Richard A. Liroff
February 2005
This article identifies innovative corporate programs to reduce product toxicity, and offers a governance framework of benchmarked "best practices" that corporate managers can use to assess their companies' practices and investors can use in screening investments, managing portfolio risk, and engaging in shareholder actions.
Click to view the article (336 KB PDF)
