Collaborating to Solve Sustainability Challenges: A Macroanalysis of Microplastics
From climate change to the adverse effects of forever chemicals, we are facing a number of pressing sustainability issues. These big and global challenges require paradigm shifts to find solutions and will require a move from ‘silo thinking’ to ‘impactful collaboration’. One of these sustainability challenges currently gaining increased attention is microplastics. Microplastics are a global challenge due to their prevalence in the environment and more recently reports in human health, but there is uncertainty on the effects. The science and knowledge around microplastics are still developing, and solutions need a nuanced, long-term approach as well as collaborations across value chains, industries, academia, legislators and more.
This webinar series will explore the importance of collaboration when it comes to the topic of microplastics and highlight some of the innovative work currently taking place to better understand and reduce the long-term adverse impact of microplastics. In Part 1, we are delighted to be joined by speakers from Gradient and Dow Chemical Company. Gradient will give an overview of the complexity and challenges when it comes to microplastics, and Dow will talk about their collaboration with the ICCA (International Council of Chemical Associations) and the MARII (Microplastics Advanced Research and Innovation Initiative) project.
Speakers
Kim Reynolds Reid
Principal Scientist at Gradient
Ms. Reid is a senior environmental chemist in Gradient’s product stewardship practice with over 30 years of experience evaluating and interpreting laboratory data, designing and providing quality assurance oversight of sampling and analysis programs, and determining the validity and usability of chemical data. Ms. Reid is currently focusing her expertise on microplastics, consumer product safety evaluations, CA Prop 65, Third Party Profiling (EPA Safer Choice, GreenScreen for Safer Chemicals ®, ChemFORWARD), green chemistry, and chemical hazard assessment. Her responsibilities at Gradient include providing technical support to human health and ecological risk assessment projects, as well as quality assurance, forensic chemistry, and data interpretation projects. She also applies her laboratory experience and knowledge of laboratory preparation and sampling techniques to the interpretation of analytical data generated in support of risk assessments and litigation.
Andrew Yeh, Ph.D., DABT
Senior Toxicologist at Gradient
Dr. Yeh is a board-certified toxicologist and expert in chemical risk assessment. He critically evaluates toxicological, epidemiological, and mechanistic data in support of causation analyses in a variety of litigation matters and human health and ecological risk assessment projects. He also conducts chemical risk assessments as part of safety evaluations of consumer products and medical devices. Before joining Gradient, Dr. Yeh was a senior fellow in the Department of Radiology at the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine. He earned a Ph.D. in environmental toxicology at UW, where he examined metabolic effects associated with exposure to contaminants of emerging concern (e.g., in pharmaceuticals and personal care products) in the contexts of both ecotoxicity and seafood safety. He is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Pacific Northwest Association of Toxicologists, a member of the Chemical and Petroleum Planning Committee of the Washington Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Advisory Board, and a member of the Microplastics Consumer Messaging Workgroup of the California Water Quality Monitoring Council Microplastics Subcommittee. He also assisted the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP) to update the Toxicity of Microplastics Explorer (ToMEx) database of mammalian and aquatic toxicity studies.
Robert Ellis-Hutchings
Senior Toxicology Scientist at Dow
Dr. Robert Ellis-Hutchings is a Senior Toxicology Scientist at Dow in their department of Toxicology & Environmental Research and Consulting. In his role he provides leadership and guidance on the health, safety, and sustainability of new and existing Dow products. Over the years he has supported a variety of Dow product areas but most recently the Dow Consumer Solutions business, which includes Performance Silicones and Home and Personal Care products, and the Plastics business. He leads active efforts within Dow and the industry to understand and address scientific gaps relating to the potential risk of plastic microparticle hazards to humans. He is involved with several multi-stakeholder microplastic committees including PlasticsEurope’s microplastic science team, which he chairs, and microplastic task forces within the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), and the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA). He has also been a member of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Europe’s dietary microplastic initiative.
Mike DeLee
Global Product Stewardship Director at Dow
Mike DeLee serves as the Global Product Stewradship Director at Dow, in the Packaging and Specialty Plastics and Olefins, Aromatics, and Alternatives business, Dow’s largest business segment. He leads a global team of professionals in product safety, responsible for tracking chemical regulations, assessing products for safety and sustainability information, ensuring regulatory compliance, and communicating relevant regulatory, safety, and sustainability information to customers and stakeholders. He has a passion for people, planet, and partnership.
Prior to this role, he has worked in the chemical industry, predominantly polymers and plastics, for 15+ in a variety of functions such as analytical, manufacturing, quality, and product stewardship with two international assignments in the Middle East and Europe. He represents Dow’s environment, health, safety, and sustainability function in various leadership, steering, and governance teams, as well as industry associations. Mike currently serves as co-chair of ICCA Additive working group increasing transparency on chemical additives in plastics, and is actively engaged in trade association work on the plastics treaty, Microplastics and Circularity.
He has a degree in Polymer Chemistry from Louisiana State University, and is actively engaged in employee resource groups supporting persons with disabilities and diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Outside of work, he lives in New Orleans, LA with his wife and two daughters, where he enjoys gardening, running, and local music.
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