The Pollution Playbook

The document outlines how chemical manufacturers exploit regulatory gaps and use disinformation to maintain the sale of harmful products, providing case studies on PFAS, BPA, benzene, and pesticides to illustrate these tactics.

• Chemical manufacturers use deceptive strategies to maintain a regulatory gap, including hiding data and undermining independent science, while positioning themselves as essential partners to policymakers due to their exclusive access to chemical data.
• PFAS manufacturers were aware of the hazards of 'forever chemicals' as early as the 1970s but failed to inform regulators or the public, subsequently funding their own science to counter peer-reviewed evidence.
• The European plastics industry trade association, Plastics Europe, attempted to block the regulatory classification of Bisphenol A (BPA) by filing three unsuccessful lawsuits against the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), claiming scientific studies were unreliable.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). The Pollution Playbook. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CIEL-Pollution-Playbook-Factsheet.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. The Pollution Playbook. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CIEL-Pollution-Playbook-Factsheet.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=The Pollution Playbook |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CIEL-Pollution-Playbook-Factsheet.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndpollution, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{The Pollution Playbook}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CIEL-Pollution-Playbook-Factsheet.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }