ECHA and EU Commission sign agreement to establish online observatory for nanomaterials; ECHA to launch public website in summer 2017
Experts declare FCM substance a likely carcinogen
US National Toxicology Panel revises draft Reports of Carcinogens, food contact substance pentachlorophenol status lowered to likely human carcinogen
First World Food Safety Day
Celebrating the first ever World Food Safety Day, EFSA publishes results of EU consumer survey on food safety, BfR holds event on microplastics
Opinion: FCM safety remains opaque
Environmental magazine raises concerns over food contact material safety; criticizes lack of transparency
Scientists use in silico-based models to prioritize food contact chemicals
Two studies applied computational methods to screen food contact chemicals (FCCs) for carcinogenic properties or interaction with 31 nuclear receptors; one identifies 44 potential carcinogens among 1623 assessed FCCs; other finds more than half of 8091 screened FCCs with high binding affinity for several nuclear receptors
Perchlorate exposure linked to lower IQ
New study links prenatal exposure to the food contact substance perchlorate to lower IQ of unborn children
BPA shown to disrupt sperm development
U.S. researchers show that brief exposures to BPA and other estrogens early in life can alter the stem cells involved in sperm production years later
BPA impedes cell signaling
Authors of new study consider BPA harmful in plastics, but possibly useful for tumor treatment
Food packaging regulation in U.S.
Keller and Heckman LLP reprints SciTech Lawyer article discussing regulation of food packaging in the U.S. and how it compares to other countries
Infertility and synthetic chemicals
Epoch Times links male infertility to synthetic chemicals; triclosan affects sperm’s sense of orientation