Last month, Biobased Maine’s Vice President, Mike Belliveau of Environmental Health Strategy Center, spoke at the Midwest Bioeconomy and Safer Products Summit. His panel,

“Phthalates: Science, Policy, and Safer Alternatives” focused on finding alternative solutions to harmful chemicals through green chemistry and biobased materials. Phthalates are a large group of chemicals that are widely used in consumer products but have been scientifically proven to be harmful to humans, especially children and pregnant women. Because of this, there is growing market demand for greener alternatives. Segetis, who also participated in the Phthalates panel, is a company that makes safer alternatives to phthalates, including its bio-based fast-fusing plasticizer. Like Biobased Maine, Segetis believes that biobased materials are a viable alternative to petrochemicals (chemicals made from oil) and contribute to improving quality of life.