European Commission announces plan to create new hazard classes for endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) within the EU’s Classification, Labeling, and Packaging (CLP) Regulation; industry stakeholders criticize decision, call for addressing EDCs via REACH Regulation; civil society groups welcome change; further discussion planned for February 2021
PET recycling will not meet brand commitments
National Association for PET Container Resources concludes that U.S. PET recycling rates too low to meet brand commitments for recycled content; calls for action, including improving collection
News from the EU Commission on food contact materials
EU Commission plans authorization of two new substances for use in food contact plastics, postpones discussions on new ceramics legislation and discusses Declaration of Compliance issues
Chemicals in plastics: Toxicity and composition
Learn more about the outcomes of a recent study investigating the in vitro toxicity and chemical composition of everyday plastic products
Perfluorinated compounds linked to osteoarthritis, association not significant
New study links PFOS and PFOA exposure to osteoarthritis in women but association does not reach significance
EFSA: Scientific Committee meets to discuss endocrine disruption
EFSA’s Scientific Committee will discuss endocrine disruption and chemical mixtures during its plenary session
Interlaboratory comparison of migration testing: Quantification
EU Reference Laboratory for FCMs publishes a report on interlaboratory comparison for testing the migration of caprolactam, and 2,4-di-tert butyl phenol; over 80% of returned test results considered satisfactory
Stakeholders discuss FCM regulatory evaluation
Discussions at EU Commission stakeholder event call for harmonized regulation of other food contact materials; REACH proposed as potential data source; concerns expressed regarding proposed ‘one-in, one-out’ approach for new laws within incoming Commission
Workshop to support enforcement of EU FCM regulation
Article summarizes objectives and proceedings summary of a workshop series taking place in September 2021 helping EU agencies to strengthen enforcement of compliance work for food contact materials (FCMs) in Europe; 84 participants compile toolbox guiding enforcement agencies’
Reviews examine biobased polymers
Several recent reviews examine the value chain of biobased polymers; discuss clarification of terms such as biobased, degradable, biodegradable, and compostable; define “biotechnological recycling (bio-recycling)” as the use of enzymes and microorganisms in a technological setting to biodegrade polymers; three biodegradable polymers assessed in marine field trials