International Panel on Chemical Pollution (IPCP) publishes joint statement from scientists critiquing European Commission’s (EC) draft guidelines for polymer registration under REACH; statement asks for more inclusive criteria for polymers requiring registration (PRR), consideration of micro- and nano-plastic hazards; statement open for signatures
May 3, 2021
3RI publishes guidelines for corporate plastic stewardship
Reduce, Recover, Recycle (3R) Initiative and partners’ Guidelines for Corporate Plastic Stewardship aims to guide companies’ transition toward circular plastics supply chain; outlines pathways to three commitments of increasing ambition: net zero plastic leakage, 100% recycled at end-of-life, and net circular plastic; includes example case study
April 20, 2021
Australia releases National Plastic Plan
Australian government announces National Plastic Plan; outlines approaches to plastic recycling, replacing unnecessary plastics, reducing plastics’ impact on the environment; proposes investments in prevention, recycling, consumer education, research, and development
April 9, 2021
UNWRAPPED Project releases FCM factsheets
Zero Waste Europe announces publication of nine factsheets as part of the UNWRAPPED Project; developed to help communicate human health risks associated with chemicals in food packaging; experts call for industry and policymakers to limit single-use packaging, take precautionary approach towards hazardous chemicals in food packaging
March 1, 2021
Microplastics and human health: knowns and unknowns
Article published in Science lays out key knowledge gaps hindering human health risk assessments of microplastics, highlights lack of analytical tools to assess small microplastics and nanoplastics; estimated low exposure does not imply low risk
January 13, 2021
EFSA colloquium on micro- and nano plastics rescheduled
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) postpones colloquium on micro- and nano-plastics in food to 6-7 May, 2021 in Lisbon, Portugal
January 5, 2021
Microplastics found in human placenta
Research study finds microplastic in placentas of four healthy women, detected both on the maternal and fetal sides of the placenta, membrane in-between; particles could enter the women’s body through oral or respiratory exposure, potential long-term effects for the fetus to be investigated
November 3, 2020
Intentional and non-intentional microplastics targeted by EU ban
European Commission signals that it is preparing a wider set of actions to initiate impact assessment on non-intentional microplastics emissions; would include sources such as car tires, textiles, plastic pellets; stakeholders call for more research to address current data gaps in microplastic toxicity
October 28, 2020
‘The trouble with plastics’
Special issue of peer-reviewed journal Birth Defects Research presents a collection of articles on plastics’ effects on human health, with a particular focus on early development
October 20, 2020
Study investigates microplastics release from baby bottles
Article published in Nature Food describes release of microplastics from polypropylene baby bottles following cleaning and sterilization steps; releases of up to 16.2 million particles per liter, average infant exposure from feeding in the range of 14,600 to 4.5 million microplastic particles per infant per day
