On November 30, EPA announced draft criteria for its Design for the Environment (DfE) program to help companies, states and other groups identify safer chemicals. The DfE program is intended for use in partnership with industry, environmental groups and academia to promote the use of safer chemicals. Under the DfE program, human health and environmental hazards posed by chemicals of concern are assessed and assigned a hazard level of high, moderate or low. The draft Alternatives Assessment Criteria issued by EPA are intended to function as a transparent tool to evaluate chemicals using both experimental and modeled information, combined with industry data on performance and cost. EPA currently is assessing BPA (bisphenol A) alternatives in thermal paper and flame retardants in printed circuit boards. Assessments of phthalates, the flame retardant HBCD and nonylphenol ethoxylates will begin in 2011. EPA will accept comments on the criteria through January 31, 2011.
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