New regulation updates entries within restricted chemicals list of REACH; removes substances now covered in separate law on persistent organic pollutants, adds toxicity classifications, updates standards for compliance with use of azo colorants
December 17, 2020
EU court confirms BPA as SVHC for endocrine effects on wildlife
Industry association PlasticsEurope loses third court case challenging legal classification of bisphenol A (BPA) as substance of very high concern (SVHC); EU General Court supports European Chemicals Agency’s recognition of BPA’s endocrine disrupting effects on wildlife
December 4, 2020
NGOs, industry criticize changes to REACH Annexes
NGOs and industry comment on changes to REACH Annexes VII and XI; criticize not taking into account current state of science, limiting the application of non-animal approaches, setting a cut-off date for existing data; concerns about repetition of animal studies among animal welfare NGOs
December 3, 2020
Review confirms additive approach for chemical mixtures
Systematic review analyzes over 700 mixture studies, confirms additive models are a good approximation, finds research focus primarily on binary mixtures; European Commission (EC) plans mixture assessment factor (MAF) for REACH; development of general mixture risk assessment methods and viable approaches to regulation still needed
November 30, 2020
CARACAL meeting on pre-registration of polymers
EU competent authorities for REACH and CLP (CARACAL) members debate merits of mandatory pre-registration of polymers under REACH; several EU member states voice support for pre-registration; discussion to continue in 2021
November 30, 2020
EU SVHC-checking app available in 15 countries
App enables consumers to request information from providers on presence of substances of very high concern; launched in 15 EU countries
November 26, 2020
ECHA’s CLH proposal on TBBPA open for consultation
Norway submits harmonized classification and labeling (CLH) proposal to European Chemical Agency (ECHA) for brominated flame retardant tetrabrombishpenol A (TBBPA); suggests adding classification of being possibly carcinogenic following rodent studies providing evidence; proposal still open for comments until January 29, 2021
November 24, 2020
US EPA extends PV29 TSCA evaluation comment period
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) extends comment period for draft risk evaluation of C.I. Pigment Violet 29 (PV29) under its TSCA regulation; new draft adds previously confidential business data, solubility testing data, workplace air monitoring; concludes 11 of 14 conditions of use for PV29 pose unreasonable risk; toxicity debate ongoing also in Europe; EPA extends comment period for the revised draft until December 19, 2020
October 26, 2020
Clarifications to REACH data requirements
European Commission publishes draft amendment to REACH text dealing with information requirements for chemicals dossiers; feedback accepted until November 16, 2020
October 12, 2020
NGOs call for REACH polymer registrations to address microplastics
European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and ChemSec submit comments to CARACAL subgroup on polymer registrations under REACH; recommend modifying proposed criteria for polymers requiring registration, suggest recognizing micro- and nanoplastic generation as inherent hazardous property of plastic polymers; call for mandatory pre-registration with submission of defined minimal dataset for all polymers