EPHC’s Dr. Ann Blake, along with colleagues from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, OSHA, SRC, and the UC Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry co-authored a paper outlining a framework for functional substitution that was published in Environmental Science and Technology in January 2015. The paper is titled Advancing Safer Alternatives Through Functional Substitution. The paper was reviewed in the Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report on January 6, 2015. Rich Engler, formerly of the US EPA’s Green Chemistry program, commented to BNA that “understanding the functional use of a chemical is vital to maximizing the sustainability of a solution to a particular problem”. “Analysis of the functional use at the highest substitution level possible…”, Engler continued, “maximizes both the range of possible solutions as well as the sustainability benefits, including both environmental and economic outcomes. A drop-in replacement may have the least business risk, but it also may miss the greatest business opportunity.”
