EU receives stakeholder feedback on FCM plans
European Commission receives 302 comments on inception impact assessment for revision of EU rules on food contact materials (FCM); Food Packaging Forum submits comments calling for revising definition to consider chemicals with difficult-to-identify safety levels, offers support to prioritize chemicals of concern
Plastic food contact materials under fire in Massachusetts communities
Various towns in Massachusetts, US discuss banning single use plastic bags, repeal of PET bottle ban fails
Opinion: Companies attempt to paralyze precautionary legislation in the name of innovation
CEOs place innovation above consumer protection states open NGO letter to EC chief scientific advisor, calls for real transparency in policy decisions
New loopholes with revised EDC criteria
NGO CHEM Trust criticizes Commission’s newest draft EDC criteria for persisting high burden of proof and loopholes that allow continued use of endocrine disrupting pesticides
Epidemiology of mixtures: Xenoestrogens and breast cancer
Scientists find strong association between breast cancer risk and total burden of xenoestrogens; in contrast, individual compounds show only weak associations, if any
No specific target for the reduction of plastic bag use
European Commission adopts proposal on reduction of the use of light weight plastic bags, Member states to choose target and instruments
EU to monitor mineral oil hydrocarbons in food
EU Commission adopts recommendation to monitor mineral oil hydrocarbons in food and in materials and articles intended for food contact; 2017-2018 monitoring data to be submitted to EFSA by February 2019
German authorities seek comments for bisphenol restriction proposal
Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the competent authority for REACH in Germany, and the German Environment Agency launch second stakeholder consultation in preparation for a REACH Restriction Dossier for bisphenol A (BPA) and other similar bisphenols; seeking updated use information including tonnages, emissions, alternatives and transition costs, and limit values; authorities already have enough data to demonstrate hazards
EC sets limit on MOAH in foods
European Commission sets recommended limits on mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbon (MOAH) contamination in food, effective immediately; Limits not currently binding, up to Member States to enforce; action follows December 2021 civil society investigation into levels of MOAH in foods on the European market