Ruth Hull, Senior Scientist, Intrinsik Inc, Mississauga, Ontario, spoke at sustainability, chemical life cycle assessment and the work of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry at the Commission for Environmental Cooperation's Chemicals Management Forum on May 16, 2012 in San Antonio, Texas. More information at: http://www.cec.org/chemicals2012

1. Sustainability: Innovation Through Creative Use of
Existing Tools
Ruth Hull
Intrinsik Environmental Sciences Inc, Toronto, Canada
SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry) North America
May 16th, 2012

2. Sustainability challenges
• Sound chemical management is needed at all stages
of a product’s life-cycle
• Industry is challenged with balancing profit, product
effectiveness, environmental responsibilities
• Industry understands the importance of having
products that are as “green” and “sustainable” as
possible (CSR).
• How can they evaluate whether they are doing the
best “balancing”?
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3. 3

4. Tools to Assess Sustainability
• Existing tools can be used to evaluate the
environmental component of sustainability, such
as hazards and risks
– Globally Harmonized System of Classification and
Labelling of Chemicals
– Ecosystem services evaluation
– Life-cycle analysis
– Risk assessment
• These can be linked to the social and economic
components using tools such as decision analysis
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5. GHS Classification: Foundation
of the Safe Use of Chemicals
Safe use of
Chemicals
Risk Management
(Risk Communication &
Chemical Control)
Hazard Communication
(Safety Data Sheets & Labelling)
GHS Classification
5 http://www.unece.org/trans/danger/publi/ghs/ghs_welcome_e.html

6. Ecosystem Services
6 Stay tuned: SETAC Workshop on Ecosystem Services, 2013; www.setac.org

7. Life Cycle Assessment
7 SETAC Advisory Groups (LCA); www.setac.org

8. Risk Assessment
8 SETAC Advisory Groups (ERA, HHRA); www.setac.org

9. Practical Approaches
• Methods exist to monitor and assess chemicals in the
environment
– Go beyond a comparison of concentrations to guidelines
– Consider exposures to people, fish, wildlife, etc. (e.g., risk
assessment)
– Look to the final goal when planning approaches (be
flexible, creative, use adaptive management)
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10. What can you do?
• Industry
– Think about the life of the product
– Use existing tools to evaluate sustainability
(e.g., RA, GHS, LCA, ecosystem services, decision analysis)
– Incorporate concepts of CSR
• Government
– Support innovation
– Ensure legislation supports innovation
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