Tens of thousands of chemicals are in use globally today. Very few have been studied for their impact on humans and the environment. To accelerate the shift to safer alternatives, the ground-breaking TCO Certified Accepted Substance List presents substances proven to be a better choice. Six more process chemicals have recently been added to the list.
Hazardous substances used by the IT industry are a risk to both humans and the environment. Dioxins, halogens and other toxic substances end up in the natural environment because of improper use in manufacturing and when products are not recycled responsibly in a controlled environment. Since a very low percentage of substances have been studied and hazard-assessed, only banning a few substances that have been proven to be harmful is not enough. Substances should instead always be considered hazardous until proven safer before they are used.
TCO Certified is the leading sustainability certification for IT products. With the ground-breaking TCO Certified Accepted Substance List, TCO Certified creates more transparency and promotes a shift to safer substances. The list only includes substances which are proven to be safer. As the list is public and available to everyone, it helps drive chemical safety in the IT industry and society as a whole.
“While a few hazardous substances have been phased out through legislation, too little is known about the substances used to replace them. Regulatory development lags behind. TCO Certified Accepted Substance List leads to many sustainability benefits such as increased transparency, closed data gaps, and a faster shift to safer alternatives”, says Stephen Fuller, expert on hazardous substances