Series of new studies finds mixtures of everyday non-carcinogenic chemicals to be of concern for causing cancer; individual chemicals present at low levels; opportunity for improvement of chemical risk assessment and primary prevention of cancer
New York City again bans polystyrene foam packaging
Expanded polystyrene food packaging to be banned in the City of New York effective November 13, 2017; foam recycling found not “economically feasible” or “environmentally effective”
Mechanistic data in hazard assessment
Academic and industry scientists debate whether use of mechanistic data in regulatory hazard assessment of chemicals should be decisive or supportive only, discuss study selection process for systematic reviews
Discussion on polymer registration under REACH goes into 4th round
EU Competent Authorities for REACH and CLP (CARACAL) subgroup members debate on the identification of polymers requiring registration and their grouping; consider different opinions of stakeholders on group size, acceptable hazard variation within a group and options to deal with the variety of molecular weights one polymer can have; discussions to continue until end of 2021
FDA decision on perchlorate postponed
NGOs and FDA request to pause court case concerning perchlorate petition; FDA aims to reach final decision on use of perchlorate in food packaging by March 2017
Pre-registration challenges in K-REACH
Consumer goods company Proctor and Gamble comments on challenges they face during registration under Korean chemicals legislation; highlights difficulty in obtaining data on chemical substances used and in joint registration of polymers
PC-replacements: Genotoxicity of NIAS
Decision tree applied to investigate genotoxic potential of 48 migrates from ‘BPA-free’ baby bottles; more data needed for unequivocal classification
EU authorization of PET recycling for FCMs coming soon
Euractiv article discusses imminent authorization of plastic recycling processes for food contact by EU Commission; concerns about chemical contamination and migration remain; adoption foreseen by end of 2018
Spain passes comprehensive waste reduction regulation, eases the way for reuse
New Spanish waste law includes extensive waste reduction measures and targets across the entire supply chain; bans bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates in food packaging; mandates food providers offer tap water for free and accept reusable containers if customers bring them; 20% of floor space in large grocery stores must be for food without packaging; establishes extended producer responsibility scheme and bottle-to-bottle recycling program
ACC challenges listing DINP under Proposition 65
American Chemistry Council (ACC) submits petition to California’s supreme court challenging listing of diisononyl phthalate (DINP); highest court has at least 60 days to decide on petition and make final ruling