Dutch institute for public health and environment (RIVM) publishes annual report 2016
Discussion on polymer registration under REACH goes into 4th round
EU Competent Authorities for REACH and CLP (CARACAL) subgroup members debate on the identification of polymers requiring registration and their grouping; consider different opinions of stakeholders on group size, acceptable hazard variation within a group and options to deal with the variety of molecular weights one polymer can have; discussions to continue until end of 2021
Safe and Sustainable by Design: 1st EU stakeholder workshop
European Commission holds workshop with stakeholders to discuss criteria for chemicals that are Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD); implementation of EU’s Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) will depend on clear and implementable criteria for SSbD, amongst other central pillars such as essential use and generic risk assessment
New draft of German mineral oil ordinance
German authorities publish draft ordinance restricting the migration of mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons; no limit for mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons included
BfR statement on bamboo cups and tableware
German institute for risk assessment publishes position statement on melamine-formaldehyde resins, including tableware made with bamboo fibers; warns consumers against using such tableware with hot liquids; recommends lowering specific migration limit of formaldehyde in EU regulation from 15 to 6 mg/kg
Foodwatch: German draft mineral oil ordinance not protective enough
Foodwatch criticizes new draft of German mineral oil ordinance; requests lower SML for MOAH, mandatory functional barriers for all paper and board food packaging, strict limit levels for MOSH and MOAH in food
Health effects of perchlorate exposure
Review of perchlorate’s human health effects finds ‘mixed results’ regarding neurodevelopment; Austrian assessment of dietary perchlorate exposure finds exceedance of tolerable daily intake levels for high consumption; recent studies address effects in newborns, other effects
Studies report on bisphenol exposure and health effects
Review summarizes plastic-associated bisphenol A (BPA) sources, exposure, and human health risks; dietary bisphenol exposure via packaged food consumption in Saudi Arabia is potential human health concern; review discusses bisphenols’ effects on the cardiovascular system and recommends human-relevant studies with bisphenols other than BPA; consensus scoring analysis identifies endocrine-disrupting food contact chemicals potentially interacting with nuclear receptors
11th amendment to EU plastic FCM regulation
EU Commission publishes 11th amendment to plastic FCM regulation, authorizes 2 new food contact substances, changes specific migration limits for 2 existing Union List substances
Brominated flame retardants detected in Korean FCMs
Varying levels of the four major brominated flame retardants found in polystyrene food contact materials