Maine and Minnesota consult on draft policies concerning bans or reporting requirements on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food contact materials and articles; California Attorney General warns companies of penalties for selling or failing to disclose PFAS-containing food packaging and cookware; Nevada governor vetoes PFAS bill, state senator plans to reintroduce bill in 2024
EFSA report on evidence integration
EFSA publishes report of its colloquium on evidence integration in chemical risk assessment, held October 25-26, 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal
US Plastics Pact launched
Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Plastics Pact network expands to include US Plastics Pact collaborative with over 60 signatories
Update: More US states now ban PFAS in food packaging
Connecticut, Vermont, and Minnesota join set of US states that ban use of PFAS in food packaging; Vermont ban also implements a procedure for considering phase-out of bisphenols in food packaging; Minnesota bill funds study to find which products within the state contain PFAS; Governor of New Mexico call on US Environmental Protection Agency to list PFAS as hazardous waste
New Plastics Economy progress report 2020
Ellen MacArthur Foundation summarizes progress made by business and government signatories since 2019; identifies focus towards increase of recycled content, phasing out problematic items; sees little development in increasing plastic packaging recyclability, reducing single-use packaging
EFSA working group on phthalates: 4th meeting
EFSA’s CEF Panel working group on phthalates reassesses safety of DBP, BBP and DEHP for food contact plastics; updated meeting minutes now available online
UNEP and EU updates on marine plastic pollution
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) completes survey of South-East Asian consumers and businesses, finds ‘significant disconnect’ between expectations and actions taken to address plastic waste; European Commission (EC) and European Environment Agency (EEA) publish status reports on marine protection efforts in the EU, show mixed results with increase in plastics contamination
EDCs in the spotlight in the U.S.
Symposium in recognition of 25 years of EDC research hosted by NIEHS; scientific advances, challenges discussed; ACC blogs on why EDC science should not be celebrated; Endocrine Society calls for stronger policies on EDCs
Web stream available for EFSA conference
EFSA conference on food safety on October 14-16, 2015 in Milan, Italy can be followed live via web stream; questions for Q&A sessions can be submitted via Twitter or EFSA-Expo website
EFSA releases 2nd update to OpenFoodTox database
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) update adds 150 substances from 200 additional scientific assessments; future versions of database to expand coverage of chemical properties to metabolism, bioaccumulation, and exposure data