Industry Guidelines
Certain brands, mostly in the footwear industry, have laid down guidelines banning the use of benzene, showing that a benzene ban is actually possible. However, most other industries and companies have simply put no thoughts to the matter.
Adidas has a Health and Safety Guidelines which is binding on its suppliers. The Guidelines come with a list of banned chemicals, including benzene[1]. Puma has also banned the use of benzene as a solvent[2]. Nike, however, allows the use of benzene in their toys products.[3]
It does seem that the toy industry is lacking behind in its regulation of hazardous chemicals. No guidelines on chemical use can be found in the publicly available codes of conduct of Mattel, Disney or the International Council of Toy Industries.
In the electronic industry, most companies do have chemical guidelines. However those guidelines focus more on the chemicals contained in the final products rather than those employed in the manufacturing process. Most such guidelines make no mention of benzene, including Apple’s Regulated Substances Specification[4], HP’s Substances and Materials Requirements[5] and Samsung’s Standards for Control of Substances concerning Product Environment[6]. Nokia does mention benzene in its substance list and mandates a ban, but the restriction applies only to product and not process[7]. Nor does the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition have any policy on chemical use in the workplace. .
Adidas has a Health and Safety Guidelines which is binding on its suppliers. The Guidelines come with a list of banned chemicals, including benzene[1]. Puma has also banned the use of benzene as a solvent[2]. Nike, however, allows the use of benzene in their toys products.[3]
It does seem that the toy industry is lacking behind in its regulation of hazardous chemicals. No guidelines on chemical use can be found in the publicly available codes of conduct of Mattel, Disney or the International Council of Toy Industries.
In the electronic industry, most companies do have chemical guidelines. However those guidelines focus more on the chemicals contained in the final products rather than those employed in the manufacturing process. Most such guidelines make no mention of benzene, including Apple’s Regulated Substances Specification[4], HP’s Substances and Materials Requirements[5] and Samsung’s Standards for Control of Substances concerning Product Environment[6]. Nokia does mention benzene in its substance list and mandates a ban, but the restriction applies only to product and not process[7]. Nor does the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition have any policy on chemical use in the workplace. .
[1] Adidas Group: Health and Safety Guidelines, p.43 (http://www.adidas-group.com/de/sustainability/assets/Guidelines/2010/Health_and_Safety_Guidelines/Health_Safety_Guidelines_English.pdf)
[2] PUMASafe Environment Handbook Volume 2, p.30 (http://about.puma.com/wp-content/themes/aboutPUMA_theme/media/pdf/PUMASafeEnvironmentHandbook-Vol2_final.pdf)
[3] Nike Restricted Substance List, p.41 (http://www.nikeincchemistry.com/wp-content/uploads/Abbreviated-RSL.pdf)
[4] While Apple makes reference to the Specification on its website, it has not made it publicly available.
[5] HP’s General Specification for the Environment (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/pdf/gse.pdf)
[6] Samsung Electronics: Standards for Control of Substances concerning Product Environment (http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/sustainability/environment/chemicalmanagement/download/SEC_Standard_0QA-2049_Rev14_EN.pdf)
