A new ASTM standard has been developed that will assist manufacturers in evaluating chemical alternatives for consumer products.

The guidance outlines social, economic and ecological considerations to be evaluated when comparing chemical alternatives. Its lifecycle perspective includes considerations ranging from raw material acquisition and transport through to a product's use and end of life.

According to Michael Schmeida, chairman of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Committee on Sustainability (E60), which developed the guide, “the analysis in the new standard helps set the overall context of how green chemistry tools, such as assessment of alternatives and risks, can fit into the overall product development scheme within an organisation.”

Mr. Schmeida notes that while other alternatives assessment tools focus on hazards or risks associated with specific ingredients, these do not examine a product's lifecycle or “holistically look at all three attributes of sustainability”.

This ASTM standard (E 3027), on the other hand, is an analysis tool designed “to offer a framework that assists the user in developing a means to accomplish that holistic look”, he says.

The standard was developed, in part, as a response to the California Safer Consumer Products (SCP) programme. The rule will require manufacturers of regulated product and chemical pairs to develop alternatives analyses “We certainly hope that it is used by industry groups in shaping their responses to SCP rule inquiries,” says Mr Schmeida.

Regarding the future evolution of the standard, the chairman speculates that it could be adapted to better address the needs of individual sectors.

“It is actually my own personal hope that some day this standard no longer needs to exist; ideally, because every ASTM committee has developed their own, more specific document to their specific industry sectors,” he says.

The standard, "Guide for making sustainability-related chemical selection decisions in the lifecycle of products", was developed by a broad stakeholder group, which included NGOs, industry representatives and governmental organisations.