States Lists

California

In 2008, the California legislature passed the Green Chemistry Law, which requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to identify, prioritize, and regulate chemicals in consumer products, and evaluate safer alternatives. Chemicals are assessed by the Safer Consumer Products (SCP) program, which established a four-step process to reduce the use of toxic chemicals in consumer products.

The California Candidate Chemicals List is a catalogue of chemicals that the SCP program must use to identify Chemicals of Concern in a product-chemical combination (a “Priority Product”). Candidate Chemicals exhibit at least one hazard trait, environmental, or toxicological endpoint, and are on one or more authoritative lists.

A Candidate Chemical must be associated with a Priority Product before it can be referred to as a Chemical of Concern. DTSC prioritized four products for possessing one or more of the following attributes:

  • Provide clear pathways for exposure to one or more Candidate Chemicals;
  • Contain chemicals that have been detected in biomonitoring studies;
  • Contain chemicals that have been observed in indoor air and dust studies;
  • May impact children or workers; or
  • Contain chemicals that may adversely impact aquatic resources or that have been observed through water quality monitoring.

Eight more Priority Products have been proposed and are under review.

For more information about the California Safer Consumer Products program, including the Candidate Chemicals list and Priority Products, visit the DTSC website.

Maine

Within the Toxic Chemicals in Children’s Products program (38 MRS, Chapter 16-D pdf), the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (Maine DEP) uses a three-tiered approach to classify chemicals. It is only with a Priority classification that the Maine DEP has regulatory oversight. To reach Priority status, a chemical must first be on Maine DEP’s Chemicals of Concern list. From this list, Chemicals of High Concern are designated, and upon further review may be elevated to Priority status, which results in regulatory action. Each classification tier builds upon the criteria of the list before it.

Currently, Maine lists approximately 1,400 compounds as Chemicals of Concern (pdf). A chemical may be included on the Chemicals of Concern list if it has been identified by an authoritative governmental entity based on credible scientific evidence as being:

  • A carcinogen, a reproductive or developmental toxicant, or an endocrine disruptor;
  • Persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic; or
  • Very persistent and very bioaccumulative.

Once published on the Chemicals of Concern list, a chemical may be elevated to the Chemicals of High Concern list, which is a list that is updated triennially and cannot exceed 70 chemicals. The current listing of Chemicals of High Concern consists of 36 compounds, all of which meet the following criteria:

  • Found through biomonitoring studies to be present in human blood, breast milk, urine, or other bodily tissue or fluids;
  • Found to be present in household dust, indoor air, drinking water, or elsewhere in the home environment; or
  • Has been added to or is present in a consumer product used or present in the home.

A chemical on the list of Chemicals of High Concern may be designated as a Priority Chemical by the Maine DEP Commissioner through routine technical rulemaking. Manufacturers of products containing Priority Chemicals are required to report to the Maine DEP within 30 days after the product is made available in the State.

Maine lists bisphenol A, nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates, cadmium, mercury, flame retardants, formaldehyde, PFOS or salts, phthalates, and arsenic as Priority Chemicals.

For more information, visit Maine’s Safer Chemicals in Children’s Products Program website.

Minnesota

The Minnesota Chemicals of High Concern (pdf) list contains over 1,700 chemicals found in various consumer products, such as pesticides, dyes, solvents, plasticizers, flame retardants, and more. The list is reviewed and revised triennially by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Chemicals qualify for the list by having at least one of the following hazard characteristics:

  • Harm the normal development of a fetus or child or cause other developmental toxicity;
  • Cause cancer, genetic damage, or reproductive harm;
  • Disrupt the endocrine or hormone system;
  • Damage the nervous system, immune system, or organs, or cause other systemic toxicity;
  • Be persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic; or
  • Be very persistent and very bioaccumulative.

Under Minnesota Statute 2011 116.9403, the MDH, in consultation with Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), may designate a Chemical of High Concern as a Priority Chemical if the United States Environmental Protection Agency has identified it as a high-production volume chemical and it meets any of the three criteria outlined on Minnesota’s “Priority Chemicals” webpage. Minnesota’s list of Priority Chemicals has remained the same since 2011 and is composed of nine chemicals, each identified by their Chemical Abstract Services Registry Number (CASRN).

For more information, visit Minnesota’s Toxic Free Kids Act website.

Oregon

The Toxic-Free Kids Act was passed during Oregon’s 2015 legislative session. This law requires manufacturers of children’s products sold in Oregon to report products containing one or more chemicals on Oregon’s list of High Priority Chemicals of Concern for Children’s Health (HPCCCH). Manufacturers must remove these chemicals or seek a waiver. While several of these chemicals may create acute health risks to children, their presence does not necessarily indicate the product will harm a child’s health or that there is any violation of existing safety standards or laws.

Oregon Health Authority (OHA) may add up to five chemicals to the HPCCCH list every three years. In 2019, five new chemicals were added and three were removed. When deciding which chemicals to add to the list, OHA considers carcinogenicity, reproductive/developmental toxicity, and endocrine disruption. Oregon’s list of HPCCCH is comprised of 68 Chemical Abstract Services Registry Numbers (CASRNs). However, Oregon defines three of the chemicals on their HPCCCH list as including at least one other CASRN:

  • CASRN 104-40-5: “4-Nonylphenol; 4-NP and its isomer mixtures including Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) 84852-15-3 and CAS 25154-52-3”
  • CASRN 7439-97-6: “Mercury & mercury compounds including methyl mercury (22967-92-6)”
  • CASRN 7440-38-2: “Arsenic & Arsenic compounds including arsenic trioxide (1327-53-3) & dimethyl arsenic (75-60-5)”

Because the Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse (IC2) Chemicals of Concern Database references each of these CASRNs separately, the number of chemicals on Oregon’s HPCCCH appears to equal 73, not 68.

The Oregon Health Authority’s Toxic-Free Kids program will gather information from manufacturers that use these chemicals in their children’s products to help fill a data gap that exists for both consumers and agencies.

For more information, including how the Act is being implemented, visit Oregon’s Toxic-Free Kids Act website.

Vermont

Vermont’s Act 188, relating to the regulation of toxic substances (2014) (pdf), establishes a reporting protocol for manufacturers who use certain chemicals in children’s products. Manufacturers who use chemicals designated by the State of Vermont as Chemicals of High Concern to Children, must disclose information about these chemicals to the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) annually.

A “chemical of high concern to children” is defined as a chemical listed under 18 V.S.A. chapter 38A §1773, or designated by the Vermont DoH as a chemical of high concern by rule under §1776 of this title.

For more information, visit Vermont DoH’s Chemical Disclosure Program for Children’s Products website.

Note: In 2019, the Vermont DoH added 20 chemicals to their list of Chemicals of High Concern to Children, totaling 86 chemicals. However, Vermont DoH defines three of these chemicals such that they include at least one other Chemical Abstract Services Registry Number (CASRN):

  • CASRN 104-40-5: “4-Nonylphenol; 4-NP and its isomer mixtures including Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) 84852-15-3 and CAS 25154-52-3”
  • CASRN 7439-97-6: “Mercury and mercury compounds including methyl mercury (22967-92-6)”
  • CASRN 7440-38-2: “Arsenic and Arsenic compounds including arsenic trioxide (1327-53-3) and dimethyl arsenic (75-60-5)”

Because the IC2 Chemicals of Concern Database references each of these CASRNs separately, the number of chemicals on Vermont’s Chemicals of High Concern to Children appears to equal 91, not 86.

S.20/Act 36 became law during the 2021 Vermont legislative session, identifying Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), Perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), and Perfuoronomanoic acid (PFNA) as Chemicals of High Concern to Children beginning July 1, 2022.

Washington

In accordance with their 2008 Children’s Safe Products Act (CSPA), Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) developed the reporting list of Chemicals of High Concern to Children (pdf). This list includes chemicals that are toxic and have either been found in children’s products or have been documented to be present in human tissue (i.e., blood, breast milk, etc.). However, the mere presence of these chemicals in children’s products does not necessarily indicate that there is a risk of harm.

Under the 2019 Pollution Prevention for Healthy People and Puget Sound Act (pdf), Ecology developed the Priority Chemicals list (pdf). The list consists of chemicals that have been identified by a state or federal agency, accredited research university, or by Ecology on the basis of fulfilling one or more of the six criteria outlined by the Washington Legislature CSPA (70.240.010 (9)). This list is reviewed every five years during which priority chemicals may be added or removed.

Ecology, in consultation with the Washington Department of Health, developed a refined list of what Ecology determined to be the most dangerous toxic chemicals known as Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic chemicals (PBTs). These chemicals are considered the “worst of the worst” because of the threats they pose to human health and the environment. See “Addressing priority toxic chemicals” for more information on PBTs and how they are addressed.

For more general information about Washington laws, visit Ecology’s Children’s Safe Products Act website.

California

Candidate Chemicals

In 2008, the California legislature passed the Green Chemistry Law, which authorizes and requires DTSC to adopt regulations to establish a process to identify and prioritize chemicals in consumer products and to establish a process for evaluating chemicals of concern in consumer products and their potential alternatives.

The California Candidate Chemicals List provides an inventory of chemicals that the Department of Toxic Substances Control’s (DTSC) Safer Consumer Products (SCP) program must use to identify the chemical in a product-chemical combination (a “Priority Product”). Candidate Chemicals exhibit at least one hazard trait and are on one or more authoritative lists.

Formally, the Candidate Chemicals list is not a list of Chemicals of Concern. A chemical only becomes a Chemical of Concern when it is the basis for a product’s being listed as a Priority Product.

For more information about the California Safer Consumer Products program, including the Candidate Chemicals list and Priority Products, visit the DTSC website.

Maine

Chemicals of Concern
Chemicals of High Concern
Priority Chemicals

Within the Toxic Chemicals in Children’s Products program (38 MRS, Chapter 16-D), Maine uses a three-tiered approach to classify chemicals. It is only with a Priority classification that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has regulatory oversight. To reach Priority status, a chemical must first be on Maine’s Chemicals of Concern list. From this list, Chemicals of High Concern are designated, and upon further review may be elevated to Priority status, which results in regulatory action. Each classification tier builds upon the criteria of the list before it.

Currently, Maine lists approximately 1,400 compounds as Chemicals of Concern. A chemical may be included on the list if it has been identified by an authoritative governmental entity on the basis of credible scientific evidence as being:

  • A carcinogen, a reproductive or developmental toxicant, or an endocrine disruptor;
  • Persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic; or
  • Very persistent and very bioaccumulative.

Once published on the Chemicals of Concern list, a chemical may be elevated to the Chemicals of High Concern list when strong, credible, scientific evidence identifies that chemical as meeting one or more of the following criteria:

  • Found through biomonitoring studies to be present in human blood, breast milk, urine, or other bodily tissue or fluids;
  • Found to be present in household dust, indoor air, drinking water, or elsewhere in the home environment; or
  • Has been added to or is present in a consumer product used or present in the home.

A chemical on the list of Chemicals of High Concern may be designated as a Priority Chemical by the Commissioner through routine technical rulemaking.

Maine currently lists bisphenol A, nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic as Priority Chemicals.

For more information, visit Maine’s Safer Chemicals in Children’s Products Program website.

Minnesota

Chemicals of High Concern
Priority Chemicals

The Minnesota Chemicals of High Concern list contains a variety of chemicals such as pesticides, dyes, solvents, plasticizers, flame retardants, and many others. Each chemical has at least one hazard characteristic that causes it to qualify for the list, such as being neurotoxic, immunotoxic, or being persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic.

Under Minn. Stat. 2011 116.9403, Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), in consultation with Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), may designate a Chemical of High Concern as a Priority Chemical if the chemical has been identified as a high-production volume chemical by the US EPA and meets any of the three criteria outlined on the Minnesota MDH website.

For more information, visit Minnesota’s Toxic Free Kids Act website.

Oregon

High Priority Chemicals of Concern for Children’s Health

The Toxic-Free Kids Act was passed during Oregon’s 2015 legislative session. This law requires manufacturers of children’s products sold in Oregon to report products that contain one or more chemicals that are on Oregon’s list of High Priority Chemicals of Concern for Children’s Health and ultimately to remove these chemicals or seek a waiver. The presence of these chemicals in a product does not necessarily mean the product will harm a child’s health or that there is any violation of existing safety standards or laws.

The Oregon Health Authority’s Toxic-Free Kids program will gather information from manufacturers that use these chemicals in their children’s products to help fill a data gap that exists for both consumers and agencies.

For more information, including how the Act is being implemented, visit Oregon’s Toxic-Free Kids Act website.

Note: Oregon’s list of High Priority Chemicals of Concern for Children’s Health is typically described as comprising 66 CASRNs. However, Oregon defines three of these such that they include at least one other CASRN:

  • CASRN 104-40-5: “4-Nonylphenol; 4-NP and its isomer mixtures including CAS 84852-15-3 and CAS 25154-52-3”
  • CASRN 7439-97-6: “Mercury & mercury compounds including methyl mercury (22967-92-6)”
  • CASRN 7440-38-2: “Arsenic & Arsenic compounds including arsenic trioxide (1327-53-3) & dimethyl arsenic (75-60-5)”

Because the IC2 Chemicals of Concern Database references each of these CASRNs separately, the number of Oregon’s High Priority Chemicals of Concern for Children’s Health appears to equal 71, not 66.

Vermont

Chemicals of High Concern to Children

Act 188, relating to the regulation of toxic substances (2014), establishes a reporting protocol for manufactures who use certain chemicals in children’s products. Beginning July 1, 2016, manufacturers who use chemicals designated by the State of Vermont as Chemicals of High Concern to Children, must disclose information about these chemicals to the Department of Health.

“Chemical of high concern to children” means a chemical listed under 18 V.S.A. chapter 38A §1773, or designated by the Department of Health as a chemical of high concern by rule under §1776 of this title.

For more information, visit Vermont’s Chemical Disclosure Program for Children’s Products website.

Note: Vermont’s list of Chemicals of High Concern to Children is typically described as comprising 66 CASRNs. However, Vermont defines three of these such that they include at least one other CASRN:

  • CASRN 104-40-5: “4-Nonylphenol; 4-NP and its isomer mixtures including CAS 84852-15-3 and CAS 25154-52-3”
  • CASRN 7439-97-6: “Mercury & mercury compounds including methyl mercury (22967-92-6)”
  • CASRN 7440-38-2: “Arsenic & Arsenic compounds including arsenic trioxide (1327-53-3) & dimethyl arsenic (75-60-5)”

Because the IC2 Chemicals of Concern Database references each of these CASRNs separately, the number of Vermont’s Chemicals of High Concern to Children appears to equal 71, not 66.

Washington

High Priority Chemicals
Reporting List of Chemicals of High Concern to Children

To implement the Children’s Safe Products Act (CSPA), Washington Ecology developed a High Priority Chemicals list consisting of chemicals identified by a state agency, federal agency, or accredited research university, or other scientific evidence deemed authoritative by the department on the basis of credible scientific evidence as known to do one or more of six criteria outlined in CSPA (70.240.010 (6)).

Washington Ecology, in consultation with the WA Department of Health, then developed a refined list of High Priority Chemicals that manufacturers must report on under the CSPA. This list, the Reporting List of Chemicals of High Concern to Children, includes chemicals that are toxic and have either been found in children’s products or have been documented to be present in human tissue (blood, breast milk, etc.). However, the mere presence of these chemicals in children’s products does not necessarily indicate that there is a risk of harm.

For more information, visit Washington’s Children’s Safe Products Act website.