Translating the Materials Genome Into Safer Consumer Products

Abstract

F ive years after legislation to establish the Green Chemistry Initiative (GCI), the landmark California Safer Consumer Products Law became effective on October 1st, 2013. 1 We argue here that the development of new regulatory policies to stimulate the convergence of materials development research and public health and environmental impact assessments provides evidence that these topics have traditionally addressed separate audiences, developed different values and measurement systems, and focused on incompatible goals. The United State's Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) provides an opportunity to use lessons learned from the California experience to reduce the temporal and scientific gaps that challenge initiatives to prevent disease and environmental pollution resulting from toxic chemicals in consumer products. The MGI aims to more rapidly meet societal needs in clean energy, national security, and human welfare by developing materials that are "at the heart of innovation, economic opportunities, and global competitiveness". 2 The MGI calls for accelerating the pace of research in computational and experimental tools, collaborative networks, and digital data processingall represent a boost for the fledgling discipline of materials informatics. Two years after MGI started, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, DoE, and the White House's Office of Science called the first "Materials Genome Initiative Grand Challenges Summit" (June 25−26, 2013). The agenda focused on five traditional materials science themes. 3 The articulated MGI goals are laudable, but a crucial

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