Most would agree that legislative reform of the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is long overdue. Few agree on what to change and how best to proceed. If you throw in the 2012 presidential election, you have gridlock. Commerce marches on, however, and with the Environmental Protection Agency reinventing TSCA implementation in innovative and effective ways, Reach setting the new global tone, and California creating a new template for sustainable consumer products, TSCA reform is at risk of becoming a distracting afterthought. Stakeholders must develop new strategies to survive and flourish in these fast-changing times.

Consumer product manufacturers are challenged today as never before. Materials selection for consumer products invites a dizzying range of considerations: Are the chemicals hormone disruptors, carcinogens, or persistent, bioaccumulative, or toxic? What toxicogenomic biomarkers might make the product the next celebrity tort case? What labeling requirements apply? What are the implications of genetic variations among the demographic to which the product is to be marketed? These considerations, in turn, invite legal, marketing, and technical issues that go well beyond questions of core compliance with the law. What exactly is the professional's role? How are regional differences in regulatory standards, consumer perceptions, ingredient restrictions, and related factors to be addressed? Given the complexity of the global issues and the high stakes involved, what must a professional do to remain competent, socially aware, and scientifically proficient? This article explores these thorny questions, not to resolve them as much as to flag them, and urge professionals -- whether lawyers, product stewards, scientists, or others in the field -- to remain vigilant and as prepared as possible in recognizing the constantly shifting demands on professionals in this area.

On October 31, 2011, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) released an informal draft of their Safer Consumer Products Regulations (SCPR). The proposal came after the California Secretary for Environmental Protection instructed DTSC to stop issuing proposed regulations and to instead “take additional time to be responsive to the concerns raised and revisit the proposed regulations.”

After more than three years of discussion, research, review, and debate, the United States Federal Trade Commission (US FTC) released proposed revisions to its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (the “Green Guides”) in late 2010. The Green Guides provide FTC “guidance” on what is and is not appropriate in the ever-fluid area of environmental marketing. They are designed to help product marketers avoid making false and misleading environmental claims that might violate section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act.

Early in October, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released important revisions to its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (Green Guides) to make them easier for companies to use and understand.

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) released on June 23, 2010, draft regulations implementing California’s precedent-setting and game-changing Green Chemistry Initiative. Manufacturers need to understand how this controversial regulatory program may operate, and why it will alter forever the way consumer products are designed and manufactured.

The growth in green marketing is getting a lot of attention these days, especially from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal agency tasked with preventing unfair and deceptive trade practices. Mindful of potential false and misleading advertising, FTC has been revising its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims, known as the “Green Guides.”