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EPA
January 8, 2026
US EPA publishes risk evaluations of five phthalates; concludes they pose a risk to human health and the environment including endocrine disruption; specifically concerned about workers’ exposure; plans to develop protection measures
Reading time: 2 minutes
April 1, 2022
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) removes the last two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the agency’s Safer Chemical Ingredients List; Safer Choice Program products to be PFAS-free by March 2023; issues letter to handlers of fluorinated polyolefin containers raising awareness for presence of unintended PFAS that may violate Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
Reading time: 2 minutes
October 20, 2021
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces procedural changes to strengthen its review of new chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); removes confidentiality status of 377 chemicals; releases PFAS Roadmap with timeline of policy actions and commitments
Reading time: 3 minutes
August 12, 2021
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adds 36 chemicals to Safer Chemical Ingredients List, 22 used in food contact materials; four are classified as chemicals of potential concern according to FPF’s Food Contact Chemicals database
Reading time: 1 minute
August 3, 2021
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) extends comment period for proposed reporting and recordkeeping requirements for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); would require manufacturers that produced PFAS at anytime since 2011 to make a one-time report with information about uses, production volumes, disposal, exposures, and hazards; comments accepted until September 27, 2021
Reading time: 1 minute
July 15, 2021
Scientists from Environmental Defense Fund and Green Science Policy Institute find fluorine gas treatment used on “millions of polyethylene and polypropylene containers each year” including those for food contact; treatment can produce PFAS that migrate from the material
Reading time: 2 minutes
April 29, 2021
US states Oklahoma and Arizona pass bills to support chemical recycling facilities; at the same time, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers whether to include chemical recycling in national recycling calculations
Reading time: 2 minutes
April 13, 2021
US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) reissues risk assessment on perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS); sets reference doses for chronic exposure of 0.0003 mg/kg body weight/day and sub-chronic exposures of 0.001 mg/kg body weight/day
Reading time: 2 minutes
April 6, 2021
Ball Corporation commissioned report compares recycling rates across US states for rigid plastics, glass, aluminum and steel cans, and cardboard for 2018; best overall recycling rates found for Maine (72%); results based on multiple data sources including US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), states, municipalities, waste processors; finds high recycling rates correlate with presence of deposit return systems, curb recycling, extended producer responsibility schemes
Reading time: 2 minutes
March 19, 2021
Group of 67 scientists send letter to new US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan, requesting class-based ban on all per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) except for essential uses; argue this would provide efficient process to greatly reduce exposure, further recommend EPA to require toxicity testing of widely present PFAS
Reading time: 2 minutes
