Annual evaluation published by Swedish Environmental Protection Agency summarizes efforts made towards achieving non-toxic environment by 2020, highlights per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as priority chemical risk area
Identifying Opportunities to Understand, Control, and Prevent Exposure to PFAS
New study identifies candidates for hormonal activity in bottled waters
Antiestrogenic substance di(2-ethylhexyl) fumarate identified in retail samples, origin of contamination remains unclear
EDF tool identifies chemicals of concern by food contact material type
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) launches web tool to help companies identify which chemicals of concern may be in their packaging or used within their supply chain; Users can search for a specific piece of packaging or equipment to find all potential hazardous chemicals, or search for a single chemical to find all the types of packaging that chemical may be used in
BPA: New window of susceptibility identified
Exposure during pregnancy affected mouse mothers’ glucose metabolism later in life
EFSA assessment of substance for food preparation surfaces
Panel publishes safety assessment of ‘phosphoric acid, mixed esters with 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate’; finds no safety concern when used as co-monomer up to set concentration, often used in manufacture of kitchen sinks and countertops
Benchmarking in vitro toxicity of plastics
Scientists investigate in vitro toxicity and chemical composition of plastic consumer products made of different polymers; high baseline toxicity of polylactic acid (PLA) bioplastics; food contact status does not necessarily imply lower toxicity
FDA dismisses food packaging as SARS-CoV-2 exposure route
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) publishes statement that proclaims no scientific evidence for SARS-CoV-2 transmission via contaminated food or food packaging
Germany identifies data gaps in REACH dossiers
Half of REACH registration dossiers appear to contain inadequate data on SVHCs
California identifies candidate substance groups
Department of Toxic Substances Control announces candidate groups of substances used in food packaging to be priority products under Safe Consumer Products program; includes BPA and alternatives, PFAS, and ortho-phthalates; two additional workshops scheduled in November and January to discuss chemicals, answer open questions