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In Green Chem Style

Green chemistry may sound like an oxymoron, but in fact it’s becoming a multi-million dollar industry. It’s green for the environment; and it’s green like money.

Inspired by the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, which called for the reduction or prevention of pollution at its source, green chemistry refers to the development of chemical products that reduce hazards to human health and the environment.

Now, companies such as Dupont and Huntsman Corp. are starting to discover that green chemistry isn’t only good for the planet, it’s good for business. After all, fewer toxic materials in products mean less toxic waste to dispose of, and definitely cut down on the cost of toxic clean-ups. Had General Electric found a safer alternative to PCBs, for example, it wouldn’t have had to spend millions of dollars removing them from the Hudson River.

Dupont, which for years relied upon a dangerous toxin known as PFOA to make its Teflon products, is now investing $275 million in a plant in North Carolina that will manufacture the non-stick product PFOA-free. Huntsman Corp. already markets products such as solvents that lower the toxicity of industrial cleaning agents and wood preservatives that can replace products known to be carcinogenic.

The federal government does its part to motivate companies to think green by recognizing cleaner, safer, alternative technologies with the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Program. But now companies are starting to find out there are other rewards to thinking green – the green they earn by making better, safer products.

To read more about green chemistry, visit the EPA site or read about it in USA Today.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org