Safer Alternatives Assessment
The Search for Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals
To foster innovation through the use of green chemistry in Oregon, OEC is helping organizations find, evaluate and use safer alternatives to toxic chemicals that are healthier for people and the environment.
Safer alternatives can include:
- redesigning or reformulating a product
- improving a process to eliminate the need for the chemical
- substituting an inherently less-toxic chemical, among others
Safer Alternatives Assessments are a proven way to successfully identify and evaluate effective options to reducing toxic chemicals. Once an organization knows identifies the best alternative that addresses environmental and health concerns, meets cost and performance requirements, and considers social justice factors, it can—and should be—put it into use.
Oregon Safer Alternatives Assistance Project
This project is a collaborative effort designed to strengthen Oregon’s capacity to provide technical assistance to organizations working to assess and use safer alternatives to toxic chemicals.
Our partners in the Oregon Safer Alternatives Assistance project include:
- Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
- Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership
- Pollution Prevention Resource Center
For more information about this project, please contact Colin Price.
Additional Resources
U.S. EPA Design for the Environment (DfE)
Includes an alternatives assessment program which helps industries choose safer chemicals alternatives assessments. Partnerships bring together environmental organizations, industry leaders, academia, and others to evaluate the environmental and health impacts of potential alternatives to problematic chemicals. The Cleaner Technologies Substitute Assessment provides a methodology for evaluating the comparative risk, performance, cost, and resource conservation of alternatives to chemicals currently used by specific industry sectors.
Lowell Center for Sustainable Production
Promotes environmentally sound systems of production and consumption by using rigorous science and innovative strategies to develop practical solutions. Provides access to a variety of documents about alternatives assessment including a foundational framework in Alternatives Assessment Framework of the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production (July 2006).
Developed the Green Screen for Safer Chemicals, the first open source tool to identify substances that are inherently less hazardous for humans and the environment.
Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI)
TURI provides training, services and grant programs to reduce toxic chemical use and advance energy and water efficiency while enhancing the economic competitiveness of local businesses. TURI features a variety of useful reports on alternatives assessment, including a comprehensive survey of methods and tools in Alternatives Assessment for Toxics Use Reduction: A Survey of Methods and Tools (2005).
California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC)
As part of California’s Green Chemistry Initiative, DTSC worked with UC Santa Barbara to develop a research document on chemical alternatives assessment that will serve as the foundation for guidelines development.
