Editor's Note: To celebrate the launch of the third annual State of Green Business report, we will be highlighting over the next two weeks the 10 big trends that are shaping the future of the greening of mainstream business. You can download the report for free here, and read all 10 trends on GreenBiz.com.

The toxicity of products and manufacturing processes has been a concern ever since Rachel Carson's landmark book Silent Spring was published 48 years ago. But a confluence of events and trends pushed toxics further into the public spotlight in 2009 -- and pushed them further up the corporate ladder.

Among these are a series of reports about toxic ingredients in consumer products -- everything from toys to water bottles to jewelry -- coming from China and other global manufacturing hubs. The resulting media attention spurred legislators and regulators to press for more and stronger rules governing toxic ingredients, including efforts to prod companies toward greener alternatives.

In the U.S., state legislation that mandates lists of "chemicals of concern" is accelerating. In 2009, Minnesota enacted a comprehensive chemical management law requiring state officials to generate a list of chemicals of high concern and a list of priority chemicals in children's products. A year earlier, California enacted a framework for addressing chemicals of concern, evaluating alternatives and moving toward safer chemical products.
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Retailers are stepping in, too. Walmart launched the GreenWERCS Chemical Screening Tool, intended to identify chemicals' potential environmental impacts and drive green chemistry innovation. The tool, which is also being used by Sears and Kmart, scores and weights chemical product characteristics, such as how long chemicals persist in the environment, whether they build up in living systems and whether they are linked to cancer, mutations and reproductive problems.

Pressure on companies comes from other fronts. During 2009, Johnson & Johnson was asked by a coalition of organizations to remove two chemicals, considered probable human carcinogens, from its baby shampoo and other personal care products. Greenpeace activists conducted guerilla theater at Hewlett-Packard headquarters, scaling a building and painting "Hazardous Products" (in nontoxic children's finger paint) on the roof. Canada announced it was looking to expand its ban on phthalates in kids' products to include more items, following on a similar ban enacted in the United States. The Canadian government also said it plans to ban four chemicals from cosmetics due to concerns for human health, and possibly restrict their use in other products. Meanwhile, Chicago became the first city in the U.S. to ban bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in hard plastics, infant formula containers, metal can liners and numerous other products. It followed news of the first state to ban BPA (Minnesota) and first county (Suffolk County, N.Y.) to do likewise.

These and other actions have catalyzed reactions from companies, which are making changes in product formulations even ahead of regulatory mandates. Apple and Sony Ericsson were among firms earning kudos for removing toxics from electronics. Sony Ericsson, for example, said its products would be 99.9 percent free of brominated flame retardants and will be 100 percent free of polyvinyl chloride by the end of 2009, and that it would develop full chemical inventories for all its product lines. Strong supplier partnerships, green design objectives and sharing best practices with government, NGOs and peers have allowed companies like Nike, HP and SC Johnson to weed out toxic materials from their products, according to one report.

Meanwhile, the search for alternatives to toxics has grown. Green chemistry has become center stage for some mainstream chemical companies. One, the Japanese firm Teijin, developed a wide-ranging restructuring plan to cut back on plastics development and boost its green chemistry operations. A new industry consortium, the Better Cotton Initiative, formed in 2009, a partnership of cotton producers, retailers, environmental groups and such brands as Adidas, Gap and Levi Strauss. It plans to develop standards complementary to other efforts, like organic and Fairtrade cotton, calling for phasing out pesticides.

Tomorrow: Food Companies Put Their Supply Chains on the Menu