Ensia article informs about plastic water piping material PEX; discusses what is known and unknown about the material’s composition and what leaches out into water
Predicting endocrine disruptors
National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark develops QSAR models to predict chemicals potentially affecting thyroid hormones
20% of companies registered wrongly under REACH
REACH enforcement project finds non-compliance amongst registrants, REACH forum to focus next on chemical phase out
Letter from EU Health Commissioner on FCM concerns
European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety responds to CHEM Trust regarding concerns with current EU food contact material legislation, recognizes stakeholder concerns, promises to move ahead with prioritization of harmful substances including endocrine disruptors
Chemical migration into coffee, canned vegetables, and Indian curd
Three research studies investigate the occurrence of chemicals in food packaging and migration into food; find average of 330 µg oligoesters migrating from cans per kg drained vegetables; report most extractable chemicals from low-density polyethylene Dahi curd packaging not included in India’s positive list; detect low levels of phthalic acid esters in coffee obtained from single-use capsules
Stakeholders discuss waste management challenges of plastics
Publications from government, academia, civil society organizations, and consultancies paint problematic picture of a circular plastics economy; plastic packaging waste per person found to increase over last decade; low percentage of plastic produced is effectively recycled; pyrolysis (a type of chemical recycling) of plastics produces 9x more emissions than mechanical recycling; “biodegradable” and “compostable” plastics found to not break down in home compost systems
Plans laid to review 60 years of research on plastics and human health
Minderoo Foundation researchers publish protocol for systematic review of human in vivo studies related to exposure from chemicals in plastics
Many REACH registrations non-compliant
Study by German authorities finds 32% of high production volume chemicals non-compliant with REACH safety data requirements; 31% compliant, rest uncertain; European Environmental Bureau suggests actions for improvement
EC urged to reject DEHP authorization in PVC plastic
55 organizations addressed a critical letter to the Commission, DEHP ban in PVC plastic required