Washington Times article addresses safety of BPA; concludes that safety at environmental exposure levels remains doubtful
Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment: The Future of Regulatory Toxicology Assessment
Phthalate exposure and health impacts
Four scientific articles report on phthalate exposure sources and impacts; diet partly explains urinary phthalate levels in adolescents and children surveyed in the US and New Zealand; review of reviews summarizes human health impacts; finds studies on women “generally underrepresented”; study indicates three phthalates affect human oral health
Critical commentary of mineral oil hydrocarbon study
Scientists from European government agencies publish comment reviewing Nestlé study comparing interlaboratory analytics of mineral oil hydrocarbons
New study tests endocrine disrupting properties of Tritan™
New plastic Tritan™ shown to contain traces of BPA and benzylbutyl phthalate, no endocrine disrupting effects found for total migrate
ToMEx – An open access tool to explore microplastic toxicity
Microplastic experts publish Toxicity of Microplastics Explorer (ToMEx), a living database to quickly upload, assess, analyze, and visualize, microplastic toxicity data; aims to inform microplastic research and regulatory decisions on plastic pollution
Carcinogenesis by low-dose chemical mixtures: way forward
Scientists summarize the knowledge on the combined contribution of low-dose chemical exposures to carcinogenesis, identify research gaps, recommend novel methodologies for research and risk assessment
Bottle cap liners test positive for phthalates and PVC
Toxic Free Food Campaign reports on the use of ortho-phthalates and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in cap gaskets of bottled beverages from 141 brands; finds 66% of the cap liners made of PVC and gaskets of 50 beverage brands to contain ortho-phthalates; several beverage companies respond by announcing to phase out phthalates
Focus on plastic pollution
As microplastics are increasingly found in waters, lands and organisms, governments, businesses and institutions take action on single-use plastics
Implementation of EU circular economy plan
EU Commission evaluates implementation of its circular economy plan; all 54 actions outlined in 2015 ‘have now been delivered or are being implemented’