List Screening and Comprehensive Hazard Assessments are not new to chemicals management strategies. Many companies have been using both to choose safer chemical ingredients in consumer products. However, gathering confidential ingredient information that is necessary for completing these assessments has historically been a challenge. And getting access to this critical assessment information is often cost-prohibitive. When a chemical hazard assessment is available, it can be difficult to understand or use to make chemical ingredient decisions.
Leading consumer products brands like Levi Strauss & Co, Nike, H&M, and others are driving safer chemistry selection throughout their supply chains, moving beyond compliance by evaluating human and environmental health characteristics. For the 2020 SOT meetings, Scivera’s Senior Toxicologist, Dr. Colleen McLoughlin, spearheaded a poster presentation discussing how tools like SciveraLENS Rapid Screen and formulation-level scoring development are critical in expanding access and ability for safer chemical selection in consumer products. The poster, “Expanding Access to Safer Chemistry for Consumer Products Throughout the Supply Chain: Tools and Trends”, gives a unique insight into how software is employed to provide screening of chemicals and simplified results to meet these important initiatives.
By utilizing qualitative and quantitative comprehensive hazard assessments, functional use groups, and software solutions, chemical suppliers, manufacturers, and brands can meet their goals toward safer chemistry. For example, in the Screened Chemistry program (a program that is currently being used by many footwear and apparel brands and chemical suppliers to select safer chemicals and chemical formulations), Scivera assigns chemicals numerical scores corresponding to hazard level. These scores provide clear guidance for users to identify problematic chemicals, compare safer alternatives, and ultimately optimize safer chemical formulations and products. In 2020 so far, Scivera has issued about 80% of the Screened Chemistry Certificates for textile formulations with about half attaining “Preferred” formulation status.
Be sure to take a look at the section Screened Chemistry Formulation Scoring :: Process for a more detailed explanation on the steps for how Screened Chemistry works.
Please let us know if you have any questions or would like to talk to us about if we can help you assess your chemical formulations, or how to improve your formulations.
