U.S. President Obama enacts bill reforming Toxic Substances Control Act; news providers and health group explain implications of updated U.S. chemicals regulation
U.S. Senate passes final TSCA reform bill
U.S. Senate votes in favor of final bill reforming Toxic Substances Control Act; reform bill now moves from U.S. Congress to U.S. President Obama’s desk for approval
ECHA 2015 REACH evaluation report
ECHA reports on evaluation activities in 2015; finds data gaps for the majority of evaluated substances of high concern; encourages registrants to update their dossiers
EU environment committee votes on plastics strategy
EU Parliament’s Environment Committee supports EU Commission’s overall plans for plastics in circular economy, suggests further measures on microplastics, single-use plastics, hazardous chemicals
What should be included in UN Plastics Treaty negotiations?
International negotiators prepare for first meeting to negotiate the UN treaty to end plastic pollution; scientists, civil society organizations, and governmental bodies publish reports proposing suggestions for what and how to negotiate; many reports support including controls on chemical additives as part of the treaty
EU conference on chemicals policy 2030
European Commission hosts multi-stakeholder conference on chemicals policy; discusses setting criteria for green and sustainable chemistry, chemicals in the circular economy, and fair competition from foreign manufacturers
Proceedings of EFSA conference 2018
Proceedings of European Food Safety Authority’s 3rd scientific conference held in September 2018 now published
Genotoxic chemicals in coatings
Scientists compile inventory of compounds potentially used in coatings; 1,976 substances have no (recent) toxicological evaluation; subset analyzed by in silico tools and literature search, 10 compounds designated as ‘high concern’
Chemical characterization of post-consumer and recycled plastics
Scientists perform target and non-target screening of recycled plastics and provide recommendations on methods; detect >280 organic chemicals and metals in 21 plastic flakes and pellets used in recycling; analyze several recycled polymers and find polyethylene terephthalate (PET) the only one currently complying with European circular economy requirements; compare analytical methods to assess the chemical composition of recyclates giving their strenghts and limitations
Microplastic exposure through drinking cups and human health impacts
Study finds up to 6000 particles/L to be released from disposable drinking cups; scientists estimate humans ingest 37,613–89,294 microplastics through plastic cups use per year; study suggests consumption from plastic containers changes human gut and oral microbiota composition; review concludes that uptake of microplastics carrying pathogens may impact human health