New Technologies Enable Easier Screening For Harmful Chemicals In Products

A chemical expert recently urged companies to be transparent about the substances in their products as the technology available to advocacy groups becomes increasingly advanced.

Roger McFadden, a former scientist for Staples who now operates a consulting firm, told Chemical Watch last week that sophisticated hand-held chemical analysis systems are deployed in greater numbers by environmental and public health groups.

Those systems were previously used by industry or government scientists and engineers to screen for chemicals in products, but advocacy groups today tend to have their own scientific experts on staff to assess that information.

Two such groups — Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families and HealthyStuff.org — have used x-ray fluorescence guns and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy devices to identify potentially harmful chemicals in consumer products.

The German affiliate of the group Friends of the Earth, meanwhile, developed a smartphone app called ToxFox that allows users to inquire about the presence of chemicals in certain products.

Observers predicted that pairing that kind of app with advanced screening technology could provide consumers with a far larger range of chemical information in the near future.

McFadden told CW that new screening methods make it "more important than ever" for companies to disclose and justify their ingredients — and eliminate those that could impact the environment or human health.