In an article published on March 27, 2015 by the news provider ENDS Europe, journalist Valerie Flynn reports that the failure of the European Commission (EC) to adopt criteria for identifying endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) opened a decision by EU scientists to a court challenge. In December 2014, the Member State Committee (MSC) of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) agreed to classify diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP, CAS 117-81-7) not only as a reprotoxicant, but also as an endocrine disruptor in the environment (FPF reported). Now the Czech firm DEZA is fighting this finding and seeking a licence from the EU to keep using the restricted substance in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and recycled PVC. DEZA argues that the MSC’s decision is invalidated by the Commission’s failure to adopt criteria for EDCs by the end of 2013 and therefore it should be annulled. The EC will make a final call on the MSC’s findings and it must also make a separate decision on whether to grant DEZA’s licence application. According to ENDS, the EC will base its decision on DEZA’s request for authorization for DEHP on the situation when the application was submitted. This means it will be based exclusively on the substance’s already established reproductive toxicity. DEZA’s spokesman stated that based on ECHA experts’ recommendation, authorization should be granted. Overall, the plasticiser industry is afraid that if ECHA categorizes DEHP as an environmental EDC, it might be harder to obtain authorization, and if authorization were granted it would likely be for a shorter period of time.

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Valerie Flynn (March 27, 2015). “EDC criteria delay leaves regulators exposed.ENDS Europe

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