Roy Award Recipient ChemFORWARD Lauded for Leadership in Evaluating Hazardous Chemicals

Cambridge, MA - With thousands of chemicals utilized in manufacturing and consumer products, it’s challenging to determine which ones pose the greatest health and environmental hazards. Fortunately, ChemFORWARD, a novel science-based, non-profit organization, has tackled the tough job of evaluating the dangers of key chemicals and making their findings available to a wide range of global clients. 

For its leadership in evaluating chemical hazards and helping to reduce use of those considered most dangerous, ChemFORWARD recently received the Harvard Kennedy School Roy Family Award for Environmental Partnership at a March 26 ceremony and discussion panel marking the 25th anniversary of the prestigious award.

“We live in a world of thousands of chemicals. They are present in the clothes we wear, what we eat and drink, the furniture in our homes and even in the health products we buy,” said Henry Lee, Director of the Environment and Natural Resources Program (ENRP) at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, which coordinates the Roy Family award.

Founded in 2018, ChemFORWARD represents a proactive approach to independent chemical evaluation, working in collaboration with consumer product manufacturers, retailers, chemical suppliers, trade groups and NGOs. Its Chemical Hazard Data Trust includes screening results for more than 200,000 chemicals used in commerce. This collective database provides chemical hazard assessments (CHAs) to help identify bad actors and find substitute chemicals that appear to have a better safety profile.

The goal is to help companies, which pay a subscription fee to access the cloud-based service, take more informed action on their own, rather than waiting for regulatory actions to force their hand, said ChemFORWARD’s Science and Safer Chemistry Lead Heather McKenney. “By reducing the duplication of efforts and making it more cost-effective, we can start to manage the chemicals issue,” she said.

The database includes an overall chemical hazard classification system, said McKenney, which ranks chemicals on a “hazard band” scale. The scores range from A to F, with chemicals labeled A, B or C generally considered safer, and Ds and Fs the least safe, she said. There is also a “question mark” hazard band that represents an uncharacterized chemical for which there is insufficient data to know if that chemical might be safer or more hazardous, she said.

The ChemFORWARD chemical hazard assessments look at multiple safety endpoints on the human side, including carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, reproductive toxicity, and neurotoxicity, as well as effects such as skin and eye irritations. Environmental impacts include aquatic toxicity and persistence in the environment. ChemFORWARD’s chemical hazard assessments are commissioned from independent toxicology experts and provide a more cost-effective way for companies of all sizes to evaluate and take action regarding their chemical use.

Throughout the process of developing chemical hazard assessments, ChemFORWARD has worked with partners to help gather and share the information with companies large and small. “The partnership with ChemFORWARD is really consistent with Google’s mission,” said David Bourne, the Lead Sustainability Strategist for Google. “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. And what we realized in the partnership with ChemFORWARD, every time we do a chemical hazard assessment, it’s not just proprietary information for Google or for whoever did the assessment. That is now available to anyone who wants to subscribe to the platform,” he said.

ChemFORWARD is the 11th recipient of the Roy Family Award, which is given every two years to a wide variety of global partnerships. Previous winners have included a “ColdHubs” partnership using solar-powered cold storage for farmers in rural Nigeria; “Clean Water for Carolina Kids” to protect children from exposure to lead in water at daycare centers and schools; an Advancing Green Infrastructure Program in New Haven, CT; and, earlier, an award to Mexico City Metrobus for a bus rapid transit system to reduce air pollution.

The Roy Family Award announcement cited examples of ChemFORWARD’s partnerships, including an industry collaboration with Apple and Google to develop comprehensive chemical hazard assessments to find safer flame retardants for use in the electronics industry; a beauty and personal care collaborative that has quantified the use of safer chemicals in this sector; and a collaborative web portal called ChemWorks.org, created with support from Apple, to facilitate the use of safer cleaners and degreasers in the electronics industry.

“The Roy award is really meaningful to us. It’s not just about what we do but how we do it, which is in partnership with industry,” said Stacy Glass, co-founder and Executive Director of ChemFORWARD, which is incorporated in Washington D.C. “I think there is a need for companies to be proactive about screening chemicals. There is pressure to take action in a regulated environment and to make a leadership move in a deregulated environment,” she said in an interview. Glass said ChemFORWARD uses a cost- and benefit-sharing model, where companies pay from $2,500 to $20,000 annually, depending on the organization and their needs.

In presenting the Roy Family Award to ChemFORWARD, HKS Professor and Academic Dean for Strategy and Engagement Gordon Hanson said it celebrates “the spirit of innovation and collaboration that makes initiatives like this possible. ChemFORWARD exemplifies how we can transcend traditional boundaries, think creatively and work together to create a healthier and more sustainable future.”

Cristine Russell is a science journalist and former Senior Fellow in the Environment and Natural Resources Program in Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.