CEPN was established in 2016 and is composed of over 20 member organizations, including several major electronics companies (such as Apple, Dell, HP, and Intel), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, environmental non-governmental organizations, labor and worker representatives, academic representatives, and other stakeholders. CEPN is dedicated to addressing the complex workplace health and safety challenges in the electronics supply chain, with the aim of working together to protect workers in the electronics manufacturing industry from hazardous chemicals in the electronics supply chain.
On June 22, 2023, the U.S. Clean Electronics Production Network (CEPN) released its second list of Priority Chemicals. Previously, CEPN had published its first list of Priority Chemicals in December 2019. Both rounds of Priority Chemical screenings focused on solvents used in cleaning products commonly employed in the electronics manufacturing industry; substances included in the Priority Chemicals list will be prioritized for elimination or substitution in the electronics manufacturing sector.
The selection process for Priority Chemicals is as follows:
The team first developed a preliminary list of chemicals from the Manufacturing Restricted Substances Lists (MRSL) of CEPN member companies, other publicly available MRSLs, information from CEPN's Process Chemical Data Collection Tool (PCDC), and nominations from a broad cross-section of stakeholders. Then, the nominated chemicals were researched and screened to meet the following criteria:
- CEPN's High Hazard Criteria;
- Use in the electronics industry as solvents in manufacturing processes;
- A high-level review of the potential availability of safer alternatives.
