Annual report of EFSA’s Network for Risk Assessment of Nanotechnologies in Food and Feed available online; activities of Member States, EU agencies, and the European Commission presented
Brand audits identify top polluters
Report by Greenpeace and Break Free From Plastic names 10 global companies whose products appear to be the biggest contributors to plastic pollution worldwide based on findings from beach cleanups and brand audits
Fitness check of non-REACH chemical policies
EU Commission publishes results of fitness check for EU’s chemicals policies (excluding REACH), confirms ‘high level of protection’ provided by current legislation, acknowledges implementation challenges
CEP Panel: 1st plenary meeting
EFSA’s newly formed CEP Panel held 1st plenary meeting, July 4-5, 2018; working groups established; ongoing mandates and PET recycling process discussed
EC proposes revisions to packaging and waste legislation
European Commission (EC) publishes proposal to revise the EU legislation on packaging and packaging waste; includes mandatory targets for waste reduction, re-use, and minimum recycled content in plastic packaging; based on three problems identified by an impact assessment: growing packaging waste generation, barriers to packaging recycling and re-use, and low recycling quality in plastic packaging
Study appraisal for BPA reassessment
European Food Safety Authority completes study appraisal methodology for BPA reassessment; final version of assessment protocol to be published later with new BPA opinion
FPF Workshop 2017: Chinese legislation for FCMs
Marco Zhong from China’s National Reference Laboratory for Food Contact Materials presents the ongoing reform of Chinese legislation for FCMs, discusses challenges for regulation, enforcement, and compliance
Chemical footprinting: 2017 annual report
Chemical Footprint Project publishes second annual report; measuring companies’ chemical footprint gaining importance; data for benchmarking and progress analysis now available
U.S. hearing on international cancer research agency
U.S. Congress hearing on International Agency on the Research for Cancer addresses future funding; critics question agency’s scientific integrity; defenders talk of industry-lead campaign to discredit IARC’s monographs on carcinogens program
Microplastics in bottled water
New study finds microplastic particles in popular bottled water brands, detects on average 10 larger-sized microplastic particles and over 300 smaller-sized, likely also plastic particles per liter; WHO to launch review of health risks