Product Stewardship ─ Life Cycle Analysis and the Environment

Consider the Consequences of Bringing a Chemical to Market

Product Stewardship: Life Cycle Analysis and the Environment explores the regulatory and scientific aspects of the life-cycle consequences of bringing a chemical to market. Using case studies to bring critical points to life, this multidisciplinary text explores the factors that influence our risk management decisions. It bridges the academic study of life cycle analysis and the practical concerns of those in industry who produce goods for market within the web of global product stewardship regulations and under the eye of consumers concerned with sustainability.

This book:

• Discusses the technical tools that a product steward can use to predict the life cycle consequences of chemical manufacture and use
• Includes the techniques needed to characterize and predict the fate and transport of chemicals in the environment
• Explains the formal process of life cycle assessment, which is used to evaluate the potential effects on the environment
• Describes the regulation of both existing and new chemicals, using examples to illustrate the complexity of the factors that affect their regulation
• Provides case studies that integrate the technical and regulatory foundations of product stewardship which allows readers to explore past risk-management decisions

Product Stewardship: Life Cycle Analysis and the Environment describes critical product stewardship regulations and the concept of life cycle thinking in understandable and practical terms. It examines the balance between the benefits of chemical use against the possible consequences of exposure and can assist readers in learning to predict, understand, and regulate the consequences of using a chemical substance through its life cycle.

Kathleen Sellers, PE, is a vice president and principal environmental engineer with ARCADIS U.S., where she supports clients’ product stewardship programs. Ms. Sellers holds a BS in Chemistry from Indiana University and a MS in Environmental Engineering from the University of Massachusetts. She is currently on the board of directors of the Product Stewardship Society. This is her fourth book for CRC Press. Previous works include Nanotechnology and the Environment (2009), which she edited and co-authored.