Skip to main content

Utility

  • Admissions
  • Exploring Grad School
  • Current Students
  • Community Impact and Engagement
  • Faculty + Staff
  • Alumni
Give
Intranet
Report Sexual Misconduct
Home

Main navigation

  • Academics
    • Master of Science
    • Master of Landscape Architecture
    • Doctoral (PhD)
    • Dual-Degree Programs
    • Graduate Certificate Programs
    • Undergraduate Program
    • Courses
    • Online Learning
  • Research + Impact
    • Sustainability Themes
    • PhD Profiles
    • Student Research
    • The Centers, Institutes + Initiatives
    • Faculty Profiles
    • Labs
  • Prospective Students
    • Why Michigan?
    • Application Information
    • International Students
    • Financial Aid + Tuition
    • Visit Campus
    • Faculty Profiles
    • Admitted Students
    • Exploring Graduate School
  • Student Services
    • SEAS and PitE Student Center
    • Career Services
    • Financial Aid
    • Academic Advising
    • Student Organizations
    • Student Development
    • Forms, Handbooks + Policies
    • Quick Links
  • News
    • Community Highlights
    • In the Media
    • Stewards Magazine
  • Events
    • Co-Sponsorship Form
    • Submit Event
    • Admissions Webinars
    • Gallery
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • SEAS Values
    • Collective Impact Committee
    • Leadership
    • Demographics
    • Faculty Profiles
    • Administrative Departments + Staff
    • Facilities + Locations
    • Community Impact and Engagement
    • Art & Environment Gallery
    • COVID-19
    • Land Acknowledgement
    • History
    • Email Sign-Up
Search search icon

Utility

  • Admissions
  • Exploring Grad School
  • Current Students
  • Community Impact and Engagement
  • Faculty + Staff
  • Alumni
Give
Report Sexual Misconduct
search icon Search

Alumni Stories

Image
seas neon sign
  • Admissions
  • Exploring Grad School
  • Current Students
  • Community Impact and Engagement
  • Faculty + Staff
  • Alumni
    • Get Involved!
    • Alumni Stories
      • Share Your Story
    • Strategic Alumni Network
    • Contact Us
    • Submit a Class Note
    • Alumni Career Services Resources
    • Stewards Magazine
    • Update Contact Info

Alumni Menu

  • Admissions
  • Exploring Grad School
  • Current Students
  • Community Impact and Engagement
  • Faculty + Staff
  • Alumni
    • Get Involved!
    • Alumni Stories
      • Share Your Story
    • Strategic Alumni Network
    • Contact Us
    • Submit a Class Note
    • Alumni Career Services Resources
    • Stewards Magazine
    • Update Contact Info
back to all alumni stories

Protecting public health, one chemical at a time

Image

Michael Green spent a decade systematically testing every children’s product sold in the United States for lead, then suing manufacturers to have it removed and drafting legislation to ban lead from children’s products. He succeeded in 2008 when Congress adopted the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which set comprehensive federal standards banning lead in toys and all other children’s products.

As founder and CEO of the Center for Environmental Health (CEH), Green has made it his life’s work to uncover and eliminate toxic chemicals from our air, food, water, and products we use every day, from furniture and costume jewelry to shampoo and candy. “Trespassing inside our bodies are industrial chemicals linked with obesity, learning disabilities, cancer, and other health problems,” Green said. “The chemical industry misleads families and government decision makers about the risks posed by its chemicals and denies the fact that safer alternatives are possible. Our goal at the Center for Environmental Health is to protect families amid these widespread lies.”

Less than a quarter of one percent of the 84,000 synthetic chemicals used by U.S. businesses undergo safety testing by the EPA. Regulation often plays out in what Green calls a “toxic shell game.” “For example, endocrine disrupting Bisphenol-A (BPA) was recently banned from baby bottles. But companies have simply replaced BPA with a similar, unregulated, untested chemical that may have the same effects – or worse,” he said.

It’s a David and Goliath style battle, but Green is persistent. CEH’s victories include pressuring Coke and Pepsi to eliminate a cancer-causing chemical from their colas nationwide, ending the use of arsenic in wooden playground structures, and conducting the first large-scale investigation of e-cigarettes. “We’re fighting on many fronts – science, government, litigation, awareness – to keep people safe,” Green said. “There’s no easy solution to the problem.”  

seas logo
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability
Dana Building
440 Church Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
(734) 764-6453
Email us
facebook
twitter
instagram
linkedin
youtube
flickr
planet blue global impact logo

Footer

  • Contact us
  • Intranet
  • Contact Web Team
  • Email Sign-Up

© 2025 The Regents of the University of Michigan | Privacy Policy

Produced by Michigan Creative