European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) submits opinion on ongoing review of EU rules for endocrine disruptors, calls for additional research funding, precautionary principle, consistent criteria across all regulatory fields
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
EU committee rejects increasing lead limits in recycled PVC
Environment Committee of EU Parliament rejects EU Commission’s proposal to allow up to 2% lead by weight in recycled polyvinylchloride (PVC); see increased levels as unsafe and unnecessary given available PVC alternatives, argue recycling should not justify continued use of hazardous substances
FPF comment: Canadian pollution prevention notice for plastic food packaging
Food Packaging Forum (FPF) submits comment to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) on the development of a pollution prevention planning notice for food plastic packaging; FPF highlights aspects of chemical safety and circularity for ECCC to consider; primarily (i) chemical migration, (ii) supporting safe reuse, and (iii) standards for compostable materials
EU Commission’s Working Group on FCMs
EU Working Group on FCMs discusses BPA, amendments to EU 10/2011, mineral oil migration, authorization of recycling processes, migration testing guidelines
EFSA: Communicating uncertainty
European Food Safety Authority publishes guidance on communicating uncertainty to complement previously published guidance on uncertainty analysis in scientific assessments
EFSA BPA re-evaluation: 11th meeting
EFSA CEP Panel publishes minutes of the 11th meeting of its working group on bisphenol A safety re-evaluation; experts discuss draft technical report of pilot phase, review results from ongoing evaluation of papers, identify need for expertise in toxicokinetic modeling
Can chemicals lead to weight gain?
Podcast highlights role of obesogenic chemicals in obesity epidemic with leading scientist in the field; other academics remain skeptical of impact of obesogens
Webinar on metabolic disruptors
Prof. Dr. Bruce Blumberg discusses chemicals that can interfere with the body’s fat metabolism in webinar hosted by Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) on March 21, 2018
Italy to delay new plastics tax until 2021
Tax on non-recyclable plastics originally set to come into effect on July 1, 2020; delay until January 1, 2021 estimated to cost the government €140 million worth of tax revenue; enacted in response to COVID-19 pandemic