State to cut compounds from consumer products

Sacramento Business Journal - by Melanie Turner, Staff writer

The California Air Resources Board on Thursday voted to reduce the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which produce toxic, smog-forming emissions, from 11 different categories of consumer products, including common household cleaning products such as window cleaners and countertop sprays.

Three toxic chemicals — methylene chloride, perchloroethylene and trichloroethylene — are now prohibited from use in several products included in the regulation.

“We were very happy about this regulation,” said Luis Cabrales, deputy director of campaigns for the nonprofit advocacy group Coalition for Clean Air. “It will have very positive effects on air quality in the state, and specifically indoor air quality.”

Cabrales said he applauds CARB for setting “groundbreaking regulations that others can emulate throughout the nation.” The regulations target about 1,500 different products on the market, most of which are consumer products that are used indoors for cleaning, he said.

The cumulative use of these products by more than 39 million Californians results in significant emissions, according to CARB. When the regulations are fully implemented in 2014, emissions from VOCs will be cut by 6.7 tons a day, or the equivalent of taking 500,000 cars off the road, according to CARB.

The reduction in VOCs is just one of many steps CARB has taken in its effort to achieve a national ambient air quality standard for ozone by 2014.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2010/11/19/state-to-cut-compounds-from-consumer.html