Green Chemistry: Workshop Materials and Speaker Presentations from the OEHHA-COEH Workshop Held on October 1st and 2nd, 2007

Workshop dates October 1st & 2nd, 2007

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) and the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH) of the University of California recently held a workshop on decision-making tools for predicting and rapidly evaluating the toxicity and exposure potential of chemical pollutants. The primary goals of this workshop, which is part of Cal/EPA's Green Chemistry Initiative, were to: discuss the types of data that are needed for identifying problem chemicals and safer alternatives; and identify and review existing and emerging tools used in predicting toxicity, environmental fate and exposure, and prioritizing chemical hazards. The meeting featured presentations by leading experts and in-depth discussion of how to effectively flag problem chemicals and determine better alternatives. OEHHA is planning to use the results of the meeting to aid in the development of a framework for identifying safer alternatives to toxic chemicals.

Follow this link to download a background document on the workshop.

Follow this link to download the meeting objectives and discussion questions for each Session.

Follow this link to download a summary of the facilitated discussion (Session Three).

To download the speakers’ presentations, follow the links in the agenda (below).

For further information, please contact Sara Hoover at (510) 622-3224 or shoover@oehha.ca.gov.

October 1, 2007

Introduction and Welcome
Joan Denton, Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA)
Maureen Gorsen, Department of Toxic Substances Control (invited)
John Balmes, Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH)

Overview of Meeting Purpose
Sara Hoover, OEHHA

Session One: Existing Chemical Prioritization Approaches

Screening of Chemicals under the Toxic Air Contaminant Program
Melanie Marty, OEHHA

Prioritization under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act
Kathy Hughes, Health Canada

Prioritization under REACH
Richard Denison, Environmental Defense

Implementation Issues under REACH
Ninja Reineke, World Wildlife Fund

Green Screen for Safer Chemicals
Mark Rossi, Clean Production Action

Legal and Regulatory Barriers to Using New Screening Tools
Michael Wilson, COEH

October 2, 2007

Introduction and Recap of Session One
Sara Hoover, OEHHA

Session Two: Predictive Tools for Toxicology and Exposure

Quantitative Structure Activity Tools used by U.S. FDA
Edwin Matthews, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Quantitative Structure Activity Tools used by U.S. EPA
Tala Henry, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Tools for Predicting Exposure Potential
Tom McKone, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory

Prioritizing Chemicals Based on Exposure Information
Cathy Fehrenbacher, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The Future of Toxicity Testing
Lauren Zeise, OEHHA

Session Two Panel: Strengths and Limitations of Existing Predictive Tools and Views to the Future
All speakers from Session Two

Session Three: Framework for Identifying Safer Alternatives – A Facilitated Discussion
Session Three Panel
All speakers from Sessions One and Two
Facilitator: Amy Kyle, UC Berkeley