Where do these hazards come from?
The health and environmental hazards listed on this page have been associated with this substance either by a scientific body such as the US EPA or a toxicologist using the GreenScreen for Safer Chemistry method.
All substances have an “All List Hazards” row displaying hazard information compiled by HBN’s Pharos from scientific hazard lists. The hazard levels are determined by the GreenScreen List Translator for most lists and by HBN for the remainder. If there are multiple listings for one endpoint, the hazard level displayed is the highest for the most authoritative category of lists. A blank cell does not necessarily mean no hazard, only that there is currently no listing for that chemical for that endpoint.
See our Overview of the GreenScreen Method and the Pharos Chemical and Material Library system description for more information.
What makes a hazard high or low confidence, and how is it indicated?
The hazard level for each endpoint is often given a confidence rating.
For List Hazards:
- Bold means high confidence Authoritative A list
- Italics means a lower confidence list - either an Authoritative B, Screening A, or Screening B list.
- Unformatted text means the list isn't in the GreenScreen List Translator so hasn't been assigned a confidence level
For a GreenScreen Assessment:
- Bold means high confidence, either from a high confidence list, or high quality data for the chemical or a strong analog.
- Italics means the endpoint hazard level is based on lower confidence studies, data from a weak analog, estimated data from a suitable analog, or lower confidence lists.
What is a GreenScreen Assessment?
GreenScreen® for Safer Chemicals is a method for chemical hazard assessment designed to identify chemicals of high concern and safer alternatives. If a GreenScreen Assessment has been published for this substance, it will be displayed first in the Hazard Summary Table. The hazard levels for each human or environmental health endpoint are assigned by a toxicologist using the GreenScreen protocol. When a GreenScreen Assessment is available, the List Hazards are not displayed until you click on “Show list hazard summary” or click on "Hazard Lists". Note these list hazards may cover some endpoints not addressed by a GreenScreen Assessment, such as ozone depletion and global warming.
How do I see all the hazard lists the chemical is on?
Click “Hazard Lists” for an inventory of all hazard lists which currently include this substance, as compiled by Pharos. Initially, this table displays only the listing with the highest hazard level from the most authoritative type of listing for each endpoint. If there are multiple hazard listings for an endpoint, there will be an arrow under “View More” to display all of them.
What are the asterisks in the Hazard List table?
They indicate a hazard is assigned because the chemical is a member of a group. Scientific hazard lists sometimes specify a chemical group (such as trimethyltin compounds) without CASRN. For these, Pharos creates a list of CASRN that meet the group criteria. Put your cursor over the asterisk for the group name, and click the asterisk to see the group and its definition. See the Chemical Class Population Project for more information on how these groups are determined.
How can I learn more about the hazard lists?
See the Chemical and Material Library system description. Additionally, subscribers to the Pharos Chemical and Material Library ($20/month) can follow the Pharos link in the "External Resources” tab to read about the lists in more detail. For a subset of chemicals, Pharos also provides subscribers with information about what types of building products the chemical is used in and what residuals may be present.