Green Chemistry Law Report - Page 9 of 65

Study Finds Roundup Cancer Risk Isn’t from Active Ingredient Glyphosate

March 10, 2023/in Pesticides

A newly released study has found that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, may not be directly responsible for the increased risk of cancer that has been associated with the weedkiller. The study was conducted by a team of federal and private sector researchers who tested glyphosate and herbicide mixtures using glyphosate on human B-lymphoblastoid TK6 cells. The researchers concluded that neither glyphosate nor its metabolite forms damaged DNA, causing cancer. Instead, they found that some other ingredient in weedkillers containing glyphosate may be responsible for the DNA damage attributed to glyphosate. This finding contradicts the 2015 World Health Organization (“WHO”) conclusion that glyphosate was “probably carcinogenic to humans” and genotoxic (meaning it damages DNA). WHO’s conclusion has led to numerous lawsuits against Bayer AG and Monsanto Co., as well as lawsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency for concluding that the herbicide would not cause cancer.

Although the study indicates that DNA damage was caused by other components of the formulations, not glyphosate, it did not rule out the possibility that exposure to glyphosate might cause cancer through other mechanisms, according to the National Toxicology Program. Bayer AG has long maintained that glyphosate does not cause cancer and is not genotoxic, and the company released a statement in response to the study, stating that “the extensive body of research on glyphosate-based herbicides and findings of leading health regulators worldwide support the conclusion that glyphosate does not cause cancer and is not genotoxic.”

Coca-Cola Wins Greenwashing Case

March 5, 2023/in Green Marketing, Recycling, Sustainable Packaging

The DC Superior Court has granted Coca-Cola Company’s motion to dismiss a 2021 lawsuit filed against it for false and deceptive marketing practices. Plaintiffs argued that the company had falsely represented itself as a sustainable and environmentally friendly company. The 2021 Complaint alleged that Coca-Cola’s representations violate the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act (“DC CPPA”) because its marketing and advertising “tend to mislead and are deceptive about the true nature and quality of its products and business.”

The Complaint stated that the marketing is false and deceptive because the company “portrays itself as ‘sustainable’ and committed to reducing plastic pollution while polluting more than any other beverage company and actively working to prevent effective recycling measures in the U.S.” The Complaint cites numerous examples, including:

A statement on the Coca-Cola website stating, “Our planet matters. We act in ways to create a more sustainable and better shared future. To make a difference in people’s lives, communities and our planet by doing business the right way.”
A statement on the company website stating, “Make 100% of our packaging recyclable globally by 2025. [And] [u]se at least 50% recycled material in our packaging by 2030.”
A statement on the company’s Twitter account stating, “Scaling sustainability solutions and partnering with others is a focus of ours.” “Make 100% of our packaging recyclable globally by 2025. [And] [u]se at least 50% recycled material in our packaging by 2030.”

Coca-Cola filed a motion to dismiss in response. The DC Superior Court found that Coca-Cola’s statements were aspirational in nature and, therefore, not a violation of the DC CPPA. The Court stated that Earth Island Institute had not alleged that any statement made by Coca-Cola was provably false or plausibly misleading or that the company misled consumers as to its products’ characteristics. The Court acknowledged that Coca-Cola may have failed to meet advertised environmental goals in the past, but that does not impede its ability to set future environmental goals publicly. In addition, the Court held that Coca-Cola’s statements were not tied to a “product or service” as required by DC CPPA. None of the statements were included on the bottle of any product or in the marketing of any product. Furthermore, the Court determined that Coca-Cola’s statements are not sufficient to create a misleading “general impression” or a “mosaic of representations” to a reasonable DC consumer as a matter of law under the DC CPPA.

The Court further stated that the Complaint could not prevail because it was based on how Coca-Cola has branded itself, and the DC CPPA does not have any controlling authority on how a brand cultivates its image. Coca-Cola made no specific environmental commitments, which further made it difficult for the Court to take any action. The Court stated that in other similar cases, companies made claims such as “100% recycled and recyclable bottles,” which is concrete and indicative of a promise to customers, as opposed to vague aspirational statements from Coca-Cola, such as the recyclable packaging by 2025.

EPA Finds TCE as a Whole Chemical Substance an Unreasonable Risk to Human Health

March 5, 2023/in EPA, TSCA

Earlier this year, EPA announced the final revision to the risk determination for trichloroethylene (TCE) risk evaluation issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”). EPA found that TCE presents unreasonable risks to the health of workers, occupational non-users, consumers, and bystanders. The risks identified include adverse human health effects unrelated to cancer, such as neurotoxicity and liver effects, from acute and chronic inhalation and dermal exposures to TCE and risks for cancer from chronic inhalation and dermal exposures to TCE. The revised risk determination supersedes the conditions of use (“COU”) specific “no unreasonable risk” determinations that the EPA previously issued in its 2020 TCE risk evaluation.

TCE is a volatile organic compound (“VOC”) used mostly in industrial and commercial processes. Consumer uses include cleaning and furniture care products, arts and crafts, spray coatings, and automotive care products like brake cleaners. EPA determined that 52 of the 54 COUs evaluated drive the unreasonable risk determination.

EPA states that it used the whole chemical risk determination approach for TCE because there are benchmark exceedances for multiple COUs spanning across most aspects of TCE’s life cycle, from manufacturing (including import), processing, commercial use, consumer use, and disposal for health of workers occupational non-users (workers nearby but not in direct contact with this chemical), consumers, and bystanders. EPA holds that this approach is appropriate because the health effects associated with TCE exposures are “severe and potentially irreversible,” including developmental toxicity, reproductive toxicity, liver toxicity, kidney toxicity, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and cancer. EPA notes that the revised risk determination for TCE does not reflect an assumption that workers always and appropriately wear personal protective equipment (PPE). EPA states that as it moves forward with a risk management rulemaking for TCE, it will “strive for consistency with existing OSHA requirements or best industry practices when those measures would address the identified unreasonable risk.

Additionally, EPA stated it is conducting a screening-level approach to assess potential risks from the air and water pathways for several of the first 10 risk evaluation chemicals, including TCE. The goal of the screening approach is to evaluate the surface water, drinking water, and ambient air pathways for TCE that were excluded from the 2020 risk evaluation and to determine if there are risks that were unaccounted for in that risk evaluation. EPA expects to describe its findings regarding the chemical-specific application of this screening-level approach in its proposed risk management rule for TCE.

ECOSChem Releases Sustainable Chemistry Report

March 1, 2023/in Green Chemistry

The Expert Committee on Sustainable Chemistry (ECOSChem) has released a report, Definition and Criteria for Sustainable Chemistry, which serves to provide a clear and actionable definition and set of criteria for sustainable chemistry. ECOSChem has aspirations that this definition and set of criteria will be adopted and adapted for uses such as policymaking, education, and investment decision-making and to guide chemical, material, process, and product design and implementation.

ECOSChem has defined sustainable chemistry as “the development and application of chemicals, chemical processes, and products that benefit current and future generations without harmful impacts to humans or ecosystems.” The report outlines numerous criteria which should be considered to achieve sustainable chemistry, although the report notes that sector-specific and chemistry-specific metrics and timeframes will need to be developed to make each of the criteria actionable. The criteria are as follows:

Equity and Justice