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Frequently Asked Questions

Licensed GreenScreen Profilers are organizations licensed by Clean Production Action to provide third party GreenScreen Assessment services for a fee to clients. Organizations seeking to become Licensed GreenScreen Profilers must demonstrate both organizational capacity and technical expertise in performing GreenScreen Assessments that meet the highest level of quality and completeness requirements. Organizations best suited for the program are consulting firms with expertise in toxicology, chemistry, environmental sciences, ecotoxicology, industrial hygiene, and epidemiology.

Authorized GreenScreen Practitioners are individuals who successfully complete Clean Production Action’s GreenScreen Practitioner™ Program -- an advanced training designed for individuals who are interested in developing the expertise to perform high quality GreenScreen Assessments. On successfully completing the Practitioner Program and signing a license agreement with Clean Production Action, Authorized GreenScreen Practitioners may provide GreenScreen Assessments for their registered organization.  Authorized GreenScreen Practitioners are not licensed to provide Assessments or any other GreenScreen services to other organizations.

Certified GreenScreen Assessments are those completed by Licensed GreenScreen Profilers. Licensed GreenScreen Profilers are professional toxicology firms with the organizational and technical capacity to deliver high-quality GreenScreen Assessments.  All Profilers are evaluated against specific criteria by Clean Production Action before being licensed to provide GreenScreen assessment services.
Both the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals published by the United Nations and GreenScreen share many of the same hazard endpoints and GreenScreen criteria are aligned for many hazard endpoints in the GSH. The GSH differs from GreenScreen, however, in the following ways:
  • GHS gives no overall score for the hazard profile of a chemical
  • GHS uses a higher threshold of analysis than GreenScreen
  • GHS has no assessment of endocrine activity or data gaps
  • GHS combines chronic Environmental toxicity and fate hazards together
  • GHS outlines eighteen physical hazards while GreenScreen lumps them into two endpoints (reactivity and flammability)
  • GHS does not include consideration of environmental transformation products
  • GHS has no guidance for consistent use of authoritative hazard listings
  • GHS has a different approach to addressing mixtures
There are a number of ways to obtain GreenScreen Assessments. You can: visit the GreenScreen Library to search for publicly available Assessments, consult a Licensed GreenScreen Profiler to conduct Assessments for you, or get trained so that you can conduct Assessments yourself. Visit Assess for more details.  

The answer to the first question is no. A chemical will only be assigned a GreenScreen List Translator score if it is present on one or more GreenScreen Specified Lists. A score of LT-UNK indicates that a chemical is present on a GreenScreen Specified List, but the hazard information provided results in a NO to ALL of the GreenScreen List Translator scoring criteria. A GreenScreen Assessment would need to be performed to determine the Benchmark score of the chemical.

In regards to the second question, the absence of a chemical on hazard lists does not mean it is safe. It may mean the chemical has not yet been reviewed by the body publishing the list, or that the chemical has not yet been well tested.  GreenScreen List Translator, and all list-based approaches to evaluating hazards, are designed to identify known hazardous chemicals. Comprehensive chemical hazard assessment approaches, such as GreenScreen, are available to identify safer alternatives to these known hazardous chemicals.

For chemical formulations, mixtures and products, the GreenScreen Guidance includes assessment of each intentionally added ingredient present at any concentration, as well as any impurities that are present at concentrations of 100 ppm (0.01%) or greater.  “Special Case Impurities” -- chemicals of high concern typically found in a chemical or material and identified based on life cycle knowledge, particularly of feedstock or upstream manufacturing processes -- should at a minimum be assessed using the GreenScreen List Translator™ even when present below 100 ppm.

To obtain GreenScreen Assessments for chemical ingredients in mixtures, materials or products you can: visit the GreenScreen Library to search for publicly available Assessments, consult a Licensed GreenScreen Profiler to conduct Assessments for you, or get trained so that you can conduct Assessments yourself. Visit Assess for more details.  

To read more about assessment of mixtures, materials and products under GreenScreen, see Section 7, “Disclosure and Assessment Rules and Best Practice”, Annex II, “Assessing and Benchmarking Mixtures”, and “Annex III—Assessing and Benchmarking Polymeric Materials” in the GreenScreen Guidance.

It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to gather data from the supply chain to the required thresholds if it is not listed on the SDS. Manufacturers can also hire a Consultant or Licensed GreenScreen Profiler to gather this data. Certifiers will look at the submitted Manufacturer’s Product Inventory to determine if all chemicals are listed at or above 100 ppm. If not all are listed, then the product does not comply.
GreenScreen is a hazard assessment method used to evaluate (manually) the intrinsic hazards of chemicals.  It is not a searchable database or list of products and their associated Benchmark scores.  The current GreenScreen Guidance does not provide a method for assigning a single Benchmark score to a product. Instead chemicals within a product are evaluated and assigned GreenScreen Benchmarks. Please visit our Assess page for information on how to obtain GreenScreen Assessments for chemicals in a given product. 
Excellent question. It is important to understand the differences between a full GreenScreen assessment and an assessment using the GreenScreen List Translator.  This table summarizes the main differences between the two approaches:
Assessment Using GreenScreen List Translator:
  • List Translator is free and publicly available on CPA's website; Automated software has been developed by software partners
  • Chemicals appearing on authoritative and screening hazard lists are mapped to hazard classifications in order to flag chemicals of high concern
  • Hazard classifications may include L, M, H, vH and ranges. Chemicals NOT found on hazard lists for a specific hazard endpoint will be left blank for that endpoint. Blank means that the hazard is unknown without further assessment.
  • Assesses the parent chemical only
  • Reports overall results as one of three possible List Translator (LT) Scores:
    • LT-1
    • LT-P1
    • LT-UNK
Assessment using GreenScreen:
  • The GreenScreen Guidance and Resources are available for download on CPA's website, along with training opportunities.
  • Uses authoritative and screening hazard lists as one part of the full GreenScreen assessment process
  • Relies on comprehensive and in-depth research using toxicology test results, scientific literature, models, analogs and expert judgement to classify all 18 GreenScreen hazard endpoints. Where no data are available and modeling is not feasible, a data gap (DG) is assigned.
  • Assesses the parent chemical along with feasible and relevant environmental transformation products
  • Reports overall results as one of five possible Benchmark levels that progressively classify chemicals from chemicals of high concern to preferred chemicals:
    • Benchmark-1
    • Benchmark-2
    • Benchmark-3
    • Benchmark-4
    • or (Benchmark-U = Unspecified)
Because the List Translator is only a portion of a full GreenScreen® assessment, it is not possible to use it to achieve higher Benchmark scores. To differentiate between scores generated by the GreenScreen List Translator versus a full GreenScreen® Assessment, List Translator Scores are identified with LT:
  1. GS LT Score*
  2. GreenScreen Benchmark Equivalency
  3. Derivation
 
  1. LT-1
  2. Benchmark-1
  3. A LT-1 chemical score is based on lists that identify it is a Chemical of High Concern and may be considered equivalent to a Benchmark-1 chemical using the full GreenScreen method*.
 
  1. LT-P1
  2. Possible Benchmark-1
  3. A LT-P1 chemical score translates to Possible Benchmark-1 and reflects the presence of the chemical on Screening A or B lists and some uncertainty about the classification for key endpoints. Further research is needed on the flagged endpoint to determine if the chemical is indeed a GreenScreen Benchmark-1.
 
  1. LT-UNK
  2. Unknown Benchmark
  3. LT-UNK (“unknown”) indicates that a chemical is present on a GreenScreen Specified List but that there is insufficient information to classify the hazard as LT-1 or LT-P1. The LT-UNK score does not mean a chemical is safe. A GreenScreen assessment would need to be performed to determine the Benchmark score of the chemical.
 
*While authoritative lists are likely to generate definitive Benchmark Scores, results from a full GreenScreen assessment always take precedence over results from GreenScreen List Translator.
GreenScreen is a chemical hazard assessment method where 18 human health and environmental hazard endpoints are assessed for a given chemical based on all available authoritative data, hazard lists, and other modes of collecting information on chemical toxicity. Next, each endpoint is assigned a hazard classification level (e.g., high, moderate, low) using the GreenScreen Hazard Criteria. These classifications are then summarized and evaluated against the GreenScreen BenchmarkTM Criteria to generate a Benchmark Score. Each chemical in a complex material or product is assigned one Benchmark score.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), on the other hand, is a systematic set of procedures for compiling and examining the inputs and outputs of materials and energy and the associated environmental impacts directly attributable to the functioning of a product or service system throughout its life cycle (http://www.gdrc.org/uem/lca/lca-define.html).

GreenScreen Assessments can be used as one part of the more complex LCA process.

Licensed GreenScreen Profilers are organizations licensed by Clean Production Action to provide third party GreenScreen Assessment services for a fee to clients. Organizations seeking to become Licensed GreenScreen Profilers must demonstrate both organizational capacity and technical expertise in performing GreenScreen Assessments that meet the highest level of quality and completeness requirements. Organizations best suited for the program are consulting firms with expertise in toxicology, chemistry, environmental sciences, ecotoxicology, industrial hygiene, and epidemiology.

Authorized GreenScreen Practitioners are individuals who successfully complete Clean Production Action’s GreenScreen Practitioner™ Program -- an advanced training designed for individuals who are interested in developing the expertise to perform high quality GreenScreen Assessments. On successfully completing the Practitioner Program and signing a license agreement with Clean Production Action, Authorized GreenScreen Practitioners may provide GreenScreen Assessments for their registered organization.  Authorized GreenScreen Practitioners are not licensed to provide Assessments or any other GreenScreen services to other organizations.

Please visit GreenScreen® Training for more details.

The main steps an organization must complete to become a Licensed GreenScreen Profiler are: (1) submit an application to demonstrate how the organization meets the general and technical competency requirements; (2) complete training on GreenScreen policy and correct application of the method; and (3) demonstrate competency with the GreenScreen method by completing three GreenScreen Assessments for chemicals assigned by Clean Production Action.  Candidate organizations must submit assessments to Clean Production Action for review and approval and sign a license agreement with Clean Production Action prior to providing GreenScreen assessment services.

Please visit GreenScreen® Training for more details.

The Practitioner Program is currently provided once a year, with the first training course usually occurring in May and remaining courses and requirements spread out over the remainder of the year to provide time for class meetings (live webinars) and assignment completion. For additional information on timing and costs.

Please visit GreenScreen® Training for more details.

Prerequisites for the Practitioner Program are familiarity with toxicological test methods and reviewing toxicological studies, ability to perform a literature search to find relevant data on a chemical of interest, ability to assign hazard classifications to appropriate hazard endpoints, and ability to perform classifications of chemicals of interest using the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).  Individuals must also complete the GreenScreen Standard Introductory Course prior to beginning the Program. Experience using estimation to fill missing measured data, including identifying suitable chemical analogs and using appropriate models is not required, but beneficial.

Please visit GreenScreen® Training for more details.

Yes! We offer a variety of GreenScreen training options for you and your organization, depending on your specific interests and desires.  

Public in-person introductory GreenScreen trainings are offered periodically throughout the US, with the location being determined predominantly by the funding source.  We do not currently offer in-person training courses outside of the U.S., but may in the future if there is demand.  Each in-person training has the same core curriculum and is augmented with special topic sessions that are unique to the needs and interests of the audience.  The core curriculum focuses on how to conduct a GreenScreen Assessment.  Special topics may address broader questions such as how GreenScreen can be integrated into the organization's chemical management programs. The cost of public in-person trainings vary with the location and the organization type of the participant (e.g., non-profit and government participants typically pay a reduced rate).  

Customized private introductory GreenScreen trainings are developed in collaboration with the organization seeking the training, and can be done as webinars or in-person.  The pricing structure for the customized training is negotiated with the organization based on their specific needs and desires. In the past, Clean Production Action has not set a minimum number of attendees for customized trainings, but instead has used a flat fee for the training.  As such, the pricing for offering the training may determine how many attendees your organization would like to require to attend to make the training cost-effective.  Options such as hosting the training at your organization's site can also be discussed, in which case the cost of the training would include travel expenses for instructors

If you or another individual in your organization is interested in obtaining advanced training in order to perform high quality GreenScreen Assessments for internal use in your own company, the GreenScreen Practitioner Program may be of interest to you. Or a private advanced training course can be offered to your organization.

Please visit GreenScreen® Training for more details on our training programs.  If you would like to discuss convening a private training, please email greenscreen@cleanproduction.org.

Results from a GreenScreen Assessment always take precedence over results from GreenScreen List Translator. GreenScreen List Translator provides a screening approach to characterize the hazards of chemicals based on lists generated and maintained by regulatory and scientific bodies. Under GreenScreen, a Profiler reviews not only list-based information, but also additional relevant scientific literature on a given chemical, evaluates relevant and feasible environmental transformation products, and identifies data gaps. Thus, GreenScreen results provide a more comprehensive analysis of a chemical’s hazards.

Yes, there is a direct relationship between GreenScreen results included in the Healthy Building Network’s Pharos database and information available for creation of Health Product Declarations (HPDs). The Health Product Declaration(R) (HPD) Open Standard specifies a framework for the disclosure of product contents and potential associated human and environmental health hazards. You can read more about the HPD Open Standard on the Health Product Declaration(R) Collaborative’s (HPDC) website. Hazard associations are based on the HPD Priority Hazard Lists, the GreenScreen List Translator, and when available, full GreenScreen Assessments. The HPDC provides a HPD Builder which can be used to create HPDs. As part of the HPD Builder tool, GreenScreen Benchmarks and GreenScreen List Translator scores available in Pharos are automatically pulled into Section 2 of the HPD.

The GreenScreen Guidance currently does not provide a method for creating a single GreenScreen BenchmarkTM score for a formulation, material or product. Instead, a reporting framework is provided built on maximum transparency, i.e., providing GreenScreen Benchmarks for all product ingredients -- think of it as a product “chemical footprint”.  All intentionally added ingredients, impurities present at 100 ppm or greater, and Special Case Impurities are assessed and GreenScreen Benchmarks or GreenScreen List Translator scores reported for each assessed component. There are some special considerations for polymeric materials, which you can read about in Annex III of the GreenScreen Guidance.

If you are interested in obtaining GreenScreen Assessment results for ingredients in a formulation but your suppliers will not share the information with you due to confidentiality concerns, you can enlist the services of a Licensed GreenScreen Profiler. As a third party, Licensed GreenScreen Profilers can evaluate, but maintain confidentiality of ingredients or formulations if necessary under appropriate Non-Disclosure Agreements.  All Licensed GreenScreen Profilers are professional toxicology firms who have processes and procedures in place to ensure protection of Confidential Business Information (CBI).

As noted in the previous Q&A, you can work with a third party Licensed GreenScreen Profiler to have confidential formulations assessed. Your suppliers can work directly with the Profiler who will keep their formulation information confidential. Once the assessment is complete, the Profiler can send you GreenScreen Assessment results with chemical identity (chemical name, CASRN) information redacted. 

GreenScreen Guidance requires assessment of all chemicals in a given product if they are intentionally added, impurities present at or above 100 ppm, or Special Case Impurities. GreenScreen is a hazard assessment approach and therefore does not take “bioavailability” of a given chemical during the use phase of a product into account as part of its scoring framework. This would be considered as part of an exposure assessment for a product. GreenScreen provides valuable hazard information required to perform such exposure assessments.

You should contact the Licensed GreenScreen Profilers directly for pricing information. The cost for each chemical assessment will vary based on the quantity and quality of human health and environmental data available; extent of available data determines the extent of the literature search involved and the amount of modeling, use of chemical analogs and use of expert judgement needed to complete the assessment. The Licensed Profilers will provide you with data requirements, but the first step would be to generate a list of all the unique homogeneous materials (noting trade names and suppliers) used to make the product.

GreenScreen Guidance does not include a method for generating a single Benchmark score based on the concentrations of ingredients in a formulation.  All intentionally added ingredients, impurities present at 100 ppm or greater, and Special Case Impurities are assessed and GreenScreen Benchmarks or GreenScreen List Translator scores reported for each assessed component. The GreenScreen Guidance reporting framework includes noting the concentration of each chemical in the formulation, as well as the percent of each Benchmark in the formulation as part of the reporting framework.

It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to gather data from the supply chain to the required thresholds if it is not listed on the SDS. Manufacturers can also hire a Consultant or Licensed GreenScreen Profiler to gather this data. Certifiers will look at the submitted Manufacturer’s Product Inventory to determine if all chemicals are listed at or above 100 ppm. If not all are listed, then the product does not comply.

If residuals are present in the final product at or above 1000 ppm, then reporting the CASRNs is required for the Material Ingredient credit.

No, substances below 100 ppm of the product do not require assessment for the LEED v4 points. However, the GreenScreen method itself requires the concentration of residual monomers and catalysts be reported and screened against the GreenScreen List Translator even if they are below 100 ppm of the product.

A reasonable range of values is acceptable if it can be determined that the threshold has been met.  It should be noted that exact values are always encouraged. If an ingredient’s concentration range may result in exceeding the inventory threshold then it should be included in the inventory. For verification of compliance with LEED v4, third-party certifiers need exact values.

Only general hazard information is required (e.g. LT-1, carcinogen). As there are numerous chemicals that could result in the same general hazard information, this would not disclose the composition of the
proprietary ingredient.

The recommendation would be to list the materials in your product in a way that covers a product containing all possible combinations of the materials added. The goal is to capture the CASRN and/or hazards of the chemical substances used to make a product.

The first step would be to generate a list of all the unique homogeneous materials (noting tradenames and suppliers) used to make the product. A Consultant or GreenScreen Licensed Profiler can be hired to retrieve the confidential chemical substances at or above the threshold. Alternatively, the substance may be considered a UVCB and expected ranges of known substances may be used.

PVC is a base polymer with the CASRN 9002-86-2. Pharos CML offers a free trial to determine the List Translator score. It is important to remember that most polymeric materials are mixtures of many CASRNs. The chemical substances in other additives used to make the polymeric material will also need to be characterized at or above the inventory threshold. Examples would include residual monomers, colorants, catalyst, stabilizers, and plasticizers to name a few possibilities. If GreenScreen Benchmarking is carried out, transformation products of PVC are also considered, and are often hazardous.

No, you cannot have any LT-P1s, but LT-UNK substances are acceptable. LT-P1 scores mean a chemical is a possible Benchmark-1. You must consult a Licensed GreenScreen Profiler to resolve the LT-P1 score for each associated endpoint. As an alternative to doing a comprehensive review on all hazard endpoints, LT-P1 chemicals may have only the endpoint(s) driving the LT-P1 classification reviewed in depth to determine if the chemical is Benchmark-1. If it is not determined to be Benchmark-1, then it is LT-UNK.

The Healthy Building Network’s Pharos Chemical and Material Library (CML) offers automated software for the GreenScreen List Translator that facilitates easy lookup of a chemical and automated determination of its List Translator score.

Hazards can only be determined using a CASRN or sometimes a chemical structure. A Consultant or a Licensed GreenScreen Profiler can be hired to attempt retrieval of information about the identity of confidential chemical substances from the supply chain. They may report out the hazards without revealing the chemical identity.

No. Only report hazards resulting in LT-1 or LT-P1 scores. If a hazard classification using GreenScreen List Translator does not result in a LT-1 or LT-P1 score then it does not need to be reported.

Other lists exist on Pharos and are not considered mandatory to report for using GreenScreen to earn this point. The Pharos output indicates which hazards are derived from GreenScreen Specified Lists and which ones result in an LT-1 or LT-P1.

Currently the GreenScreen method does not include “occupational hazard” in the 18 Human and
Environmental Health hazard endpoints, and so these types of hazards do not contribute to the overall
scoring (i.e., List Translator or Benchmark score).

GreenScreen Benchmark scores always trump List Translator scores. You can use both types of scores; however, the product will only be considered to have gone through the List Translator screening level so can only be valued at 100% for a List Translator screen.

As a tool for reporting, the HPD format requires all of the necessary information needed to determine if the product or ingredient can be used to earn LEED points.

Third-Party certification of LEED v4 compliance guarantees accurate and complete reporting for both LEED credit options. See Step 4 in the “How to Use GreenScreen for LEED v4” guidance.

Third-Party Certifiers do not conduct chemical hazard assessments (i.e., generate GreenScreen Benchmark scores). Chemical hazard assessments are performed by Licensed GreenScreen Profilers.

There are 3 different certification marks that clearly designate the different options: Option 1; Option 2 (100% via LT), and Option 2 (150% via GreenScreen Benchmarking).

It is on a per-manufacturer basis, determined by the Third-Party Certifier. It would be based on the amount of time estimated to perform the certification audit. For example, a batch formula may take less time to audit than a complex article.

Manufacturers, Chemists & Engineers, Standards Organizations, Construction Industry, Architects & Designers, Institutional Purchasers, Retailers, Government, Environmental Groups & Health NGOs.