Blogs

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) announced on September 22, 2026, that it has confirmed that product manufacturers in certain key categories have largely transitioned to safer products. MPCA states that it purchases products to test for compliance with Minnesota’s prohibitions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), lead, and cadmium from brick-and-mortar and online stores. In this round of testing, MPCA “looked at multiple categories of products subject to the early PFAS...

On September 28, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the Final Registration Review Decision for 4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (4-CPA). 91 Fed. Reg. 61228. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) mandates a periodic review of existing pesticide registrations every 15 years, referred to as registration review. During registration review, EPA determines whether a currently registered pesticide continues to meet FIFRA’s registration standard. EPA...

The December 29, 2026, deadline for bilingual labeling compliance for antimicrobial and non-agricultural pesticide products in Acute Toxicity Category I (the highest toxicity category) is fast approaching. The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA 5), enacted on December 29, 2022, amended the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) requiring Spanish language translation for the health and safety sections of the end-use product (EP) labels released for shipment...

On September 15, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new e-mail subscription feature, added to its Bulletins Live! Two (BLT) web page, allowing pesticide users and other stakeholders to receive quicker updates from the BLT system. EPA states it developed this feature in direct response to requests from pesticide users who asked for better access to BLT updates. With this feature, whenever Endangered Species Act (ESA) requirements are updated in the BLT system,...

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced on September 24, 2026, the release of a new study that reviews the use of nanomaterials in flame retardants. On behalf of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and EUON, researchers combined “a structured systematic review of scientific literature, an extensive analysis of grey literature and input from a stakeholder survey, using a transparent methodology aligned with the European Food Safety Authority guidance and PRISMA...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published four documents relating to New Approach Methods (NAM) to the New Chemicals Division (NCD) Reference Library. The NCD Reference Library includes guidance documents, compliance advisories, templates, manuals, and other materials of interest for stakeholders wanting to understand the most up-to-date approaches for New Chemical assessment under Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Documents published to the NCD...

On September 27, 2026, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed AB 2253, the Protecting Consumers Against Greenwashing Claims bill. This bill would strengthen California’s existing rules that seek to prohibit greenwashing through additional labeling requirements and would extend to products that do not currently fall under other state greenwashing protection laws. Any product making a claim about recycled content would be required to comply with the requirements of the bill. Governor Newsom, in...

The Agile BioFoundry (ABF) will host its fall 2026 Industry Day on Monday, October 26, 2026, at the Hotel Shattuck Plaza in Berkeley, California. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office (AFFO), ABF develops biomanufacturing tools, processes, and partnerships that drive industrial production of affordable chemicals and fuels. DOE invites stakeholders to join ABF at their fall 2026 Industry Day “to discover partnering opportunities and provide...

On September 24, 2026, Representatives Scott Peters (D-CA) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D. (R-IA) introduced the Safer Choice Program Authorization Act (H.R. 10591), legislation to codify formally and strengthen the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Safer Choice Program. Peters’s September 25, 2026, press release states that the Safer Choice Program “gives producers a voluntary framework to evaluate the human health, environmental, and economic effects of the chemicals and...

On September 22, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The MOU is intended to strengthen scientific coordination and expand the evidence available to EPA’s ongoing registration review of glyphosate under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). EPA Action Under the MOU, EPA and HHS will exchange scientific information, identify...