Technical report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) informs about “chemical-related issues of plastic pollution and options to address them”; finds 13,000 chemicals present in plastic; 7,000 have hazard data of which 3,200 are chemicals of concern; outlines chemical groups, use sectors of concern, human and ecosystem exposure, gaps and improvement options including substitution and waste management in a circular economy
WWF: marine plastic pollution irreversible, strategies needed beyond recycling
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) publishes principles for chemical recycling to avoid harming human health or goals for circular economy; should not compete with mechanical recycling, need transparency about resource consumption; prioritize reduction, reuse over recycling; WWF and Alfred Wegener Institute report on plastics’ impacts on oceans; plastic contamination is permanent; at least 2144 species affected, 99.8% of seabird species will eat plastics by 2050
Plastic packaging: A risk to food companies?
New report of NGO ClientEarth explores risks of single-use plastic packaging; warns investors that food companies and supermarkets neglecting plastic pollution-related risk to face reputational damage and legal action
Bamboo in plastic FCMs not authorized in the EU
European Commission’s Working Group concludes that bamboo-based additives are not authorized per se for use in plastic food contact materials in the EU; business operators to explicitly demonstrate safety by migration testing; migration of melamine, formaldehyde of high concern; additional concerns about misleading labeling and advertising
Rethinking safe levels
Scientific review shows that some chemicals are proportionately more toxic at lower exposure levels; “dose makes poison” principle indicates that current risk assessment approaches underestimate chemical toxicity
Workshop on obesity and environmental contaminants
Obesogens to be discussed in October 2015 in Sweden
DEHP infant exposure may exceed safe levels
New study reviews literature on phthalate exposure and diet, estimates infant exposure to DEHP to exceed US EPA’s reference dose
EDCs in the spotlight in the U.S.
Symposium in recognition of 25 years of EDC research hosted by NIEHS; scientific advances, challenges discussed; ACC blogs on why EDC science should not be celebrated; Endocrine Society calls for stronger policies on EDCs
EFSA working group updates in August through October 2020
Minutes from recent meetings of the EFSA CEP panel and working groups on BPA, FCMs, and phthalates published; groups continue discussions and revisions of draft opinions
Webinar on non-monotonicity of BPA
Food Packaging Forum holds webinar featuring presentation from researchers at Tufts University, discusses recent study observing non-monotonic dose-responses in mammary gland development of rats from exposure to bisphenol A (BPA)