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China revises regulation on new chemical substances

Government publishes final regulatory text, substance approval linked to persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic properties; identity of new substances to be made publicly available after maximum period of 5 years; comes into force on January 1, 2021

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EEB conference 2016 report

European Environmental Bureau publishes proceedings of its 2016 annual conference; sessions addressed policy needs in circular economy and sustainability, climate and energy, and biodiversity

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High-pressure effects on flexible packaging

High-pressure processing can change functional structures and migration potential from flexible packaging materials; coated and laminated structures most sensitive; more research needed to find most suitable materials and packaging designs

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7th meeting of EFSA's FCM Network

7th meeting of EFSA’s Food Contact Materials Network takes place on November 6-7, 2019, in Parma, Italy; focus on plastics and microplastics, assessment of mixtures, prioritization strategies for non-harmonized FCMs

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EFSA safety assessment of PVC additive

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) panel publishes safety assessment of di(m-2,20,200-nitrilotris(ethanol)-diperchlorato)dinatrium as a thermal stabilizer additive up 0.15% by weight in rigid reusable polyvinyl chloride (PVC) water bottles

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State of the science and regulation – microplastics and nanoplastics

California State Policy Evidence Consortium and DG Environment publish reports on the abundance, health effects and (potential) regulations on microplastics and nanoplastics, respectively; first finds most regulations come from California or EU and concern banning microbeads or mandating more research; second argues against a lower size cutoff of nanoplastics since the smaller the plastic particles, the more likely they can cross biological membranes