Fact Sheets & Summaries

Please note that we are in the process of updating our research. Check back frequently for the latest factsheets and updated information. In the meantime, if you have any questions, you can email us at info@informinc.org or call Sophie Cardona at 212.361.2400, ext 224.

Toxic Chemicals and Human Health

Fact Sheets:

• Industrial Lead Fact Sheet
  
  
• Industrial Cadmium Fact Sheet
  
  
• Industrial Mercury Fact Sheet
  
  
• PBT-Free Data Sheet
  
  
• Cleaning for Health - FAQ
  
  
• Cleaning for Health Program - Research and Outreach Focus
  
  
• Healthier Cleaning Best Practices
  
  
• Implementing an Environmentally Preferable Cleaning Program
  
  
• Environmentally Preferable Cleaning Products Sample Specification
  
  
• Green Cleaning Site Visit Checklist
  
  
• Tracking Toxic Chemicals
  
  
• Cleaning for Home Health
  


• Your Clean and Healthy School
  
  
• Environmental Health Threats to Children: A Look at the Facts
--PDF Version

• Toxics in Everyday Products
--PDF Version

• Purchasing for Pollution Prevention fact sheets on:
  • Low-mercury fluorescent lamps
  • Mercury-free vehicles
  • Mercury-free medical and surgical equipment
  • Mercury-free industrial thermometers, manometers, thermostats, and switches
  • Mercury-free HVAC and building equipment
  • Mercury-Containing Products and Alternatives (PDF)
  • Mercury-Containing Products and Alternatives in the Health Care Setting (PDF)
  • Non-PBT alternatives for Art Departments (PDF)
  • Non-PBT alternatives for Building Construction and Maintenance Departments (PDF)
  • Non-PBT alternatives for Health Care Facilities (PDF)
  • Non-PBT alternatives for Public Works Departments and Vehicle Maintenance Facilities (PDF)
  • Non-PBT alternatives for Schools, Colleges, and Universities (PDF)
  • What's Wrong with Lindane?
  • Lindane-free Lice Treatment
  • Lindane-free Scabies Treatment
  • Lindane-Free Case Studies
  • Risks of Lindane Alternatives
  
  Purchasing for Asthma Prevention fact sheets on:
  • Industrial markers -- PDF version
  • Janitorial cleaners -- PDF version
  • Restroom and urinal deodorizer blocks -- PDF version
  • Diesel-powered school and public transit buses -- PDF version
  • Pressed-wood products such as particleboard and medium-density fiberboard -- PDF version
  • Spray lubricants -- PDF version
  • How to contract for products that do not contain asthmagens and respiratory irritants
  • Asthmagens in Institutional Cleaning
    
    
    

Executive summaries:

• Tracking Toxic Chemicals: The Value of Materials Accounting Data,
  Mark H. Dorfman and Marian Wise (1997, 80 pp.,)ISBN 0-918780-68-3.
  
  Explores why New Jersey's materials accounting data is a valuable means of collecting information on toxic chemicals and would greatly improve the Toxic Release Inventory, the federal database of toxic chemicals. The report shows how the materials accounting data provide a new way of measuring pollution prevention progress.



• Risks on Record: An Overview of TSCA's Substantial Risk Reporting System with Bulletions on Selected Chemicals
  Carolyn Nunley (1996, 45 pp.,).
  
  When a company discovers a "substantial risk" to human health or the environment associated with a commercial chemical it manufactures, processes or distributes in this country, it is required to report this information to US EPA. However, very little public attention has been paid to the more than 13,000 "Notices of Substantial Risk" recorded in EPA's database over the last 20 years. Risks on Record is the first major independent initiative to analyze this little-known resource.



• Toxics Watch 1995
  (1995, 816 pp.,)
  
  Consolidates and examines data from the Toxics Release Inventory, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and numerous other sources to determine trends in the use of toxic chemicals in commerce, their presence in industrial waste, and their release to the environment. Looks at the legislative developments in the field, new information on health effects, and the rise of the environmental justice movement.