Nations in Southeast Asia collectively working on reducing plastic pollution and related chemical hazards; Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signs off on project to “combat” marine plastic; Thailand plans ban on plastic scrap imports; new research available on sources of plastic pollution in Indonesia and Vietnam; Vietnam and Singapore implementing stricter chemical regulations; extended producer responsibility for plastic waste becomes law in Philippines
Environmental toxicity of nanomaterials
German Environment Agency releases reports on aquatic toxicity and environmental fate of nanomaterials
ECHA: Guidance on REACH registration of nanomaterials
European Chemicals Agency publishes and updates several guidance documents for REACH registration of nanomaterials
Toolbox for nanomaterial safety assessment
JRC develops inventory of tools for assessing nanomaterial safety; toolbox freely accessible on JRC’s website
EU observatory for nanomaterials now online
ECHA launches European Union Observatory for Nanomaterials website; provides information on nanomaterials on the EU market for consumers, workers, regulators, and scientists
Modeling nanoparticles in the environment
Dutch institute for public health and environment releases computational model to determine concentrations of nanoparticles in the environment
EU symposium: Nanomaterials in food and FCMs
EU Commission and Member States discuss nanomaterials in food and food contact materials; summary report available
EU Commission solicits comments on draft REACH update requirements
European Commission draft implementing regulations specifies when registrants should update REACH dossiers following changes; public feedback period open until January 15, 2020
BPA and analogues: Multiple targets and effects
Scientists highlight BPA’s interactions with multiple molecular targets besides estrogen receptor; growing body of evidence demonstrates similar pleiotropic actions of BPA substitutes such as BPS, BPF, BPAF and others
Plastic recycling: company commitments and chemical safety challenges
Scientists report most large companies commit to reducing plastic pollution but focus on recycling; extrusion of recycled materials and legacy compounds in recycled materials as safety challenge; some substances increase others decrease with the increase in recycled content in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles; tentatively identify 212 volatile chemicals in 57 different recycled PET flakes available in China; present migration model to characterize the exposure and risk of PET oligomers