The tenth Helsinki Chemicals Forum was held on June 14-15, 2018, in Helsinki, Finland. According to the Conference Report, prepared by Chemical Watch, 168 delegates from 37 countries attended. The final debate at the Forum used nanomaterials as a case study to argue whether product stewardship can replace regulation. Roger Drew, ToxConsult, moderated the debate between David Azoulay, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and David Warheit,...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On July 16, 2018, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a $12 million investment in the Semiconductor Synthetic Biology for Information Processing and Storage Technologies (SemiSynBio) program, a partnership between NSF and Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC). Researches expect that integrating biological structures with semiconductor technology could increase current data storage capabilities by 1,000 times, while using less energy than current...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On July 16, 2018, Anellotech and Suntory announced that a new milestone had been reached in developing a 100 percent biobased plastic bottle. Anellotech is using a thermal catalytic process called Bio-TCatTM to confirm non-food based feedstocks into BTX aromatics, renewable chemicals that are structurally identical to traditional plastic components. The BTX is now undergoing purification studies to make bio-paraxylene, a key chemical for the renewable bottles....
July 20, 2018
Biofuel Groups Testify At RFS Public Hearing
By Lynn L. Bergeson On July 18, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a Public Hearing for Proposed Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) for 2019 and Biomass-Based Diesel Volume for 2020. The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) testified at this meeting that EPA should set the 2020 Biomass-based Diesel volume at 2.8 billion gallons, stating that it aligns with the goals that Congress set for the RFS program, the volume is achievable in 2020, and that it will better fulfill...
The July 19, 2018, issue of the European Commission’s (EC) Health-EU Newsletter includes an editorial entitled “The only concern to have about sunscreen is … did you remember to put it on?” written by Qasim Chaudhry, Chair of the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) and Ulrike Bernauer, Chair of the SCCS Working Group on Nanomaterials in Cosmetic Products. According to the editorial, nanomaterials as cosmetic ingredients serve various functions, including as...
July 18, 2018
EUON Publishes Study Identifying Key Parameters for Conducting Reliable Market Studies on Nanomaterials
On July 17, 2018, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced the availability of a study that it commissioned, Critical review of the relevance and reliability of data sources, methods, parameters and determining factors to produce market studies on manufactured nanomaterials on the EU market. The study presents the results of a critical review of the relevance and reliability of data sources, methods, parameters, and determining factors to...
July 17, 2018
Oral Argument Held in Case Challenging EPA’s Denial of Petition to Revoke Chlorpyrifos Tolerances
On July 9, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit) held oral argument in League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) v. Pruitt, a case brought to challenge the decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny a 2007 petition by Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The 2007 petition requested that EPA revoke all chlorpyrifos tolerances granted under the Federal Food, Drug,...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On July 5, 2018, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd announced that it had developed a 100 percent biobased, thermally formable, biodegradable material, that is suitable for furniture applications. This product is an attractive alternative to wood and other biocomposite materials that are already available in the market, with the added benefit of formality and coloring properties. "All the goals we set were achieved: the material is 100% bio-based,...
July 13, 2018
North Dakota Industrial Commission Provides Grant To Midwest AgEnergy For Barley-Based Ethanol Resea
By Lynn L. Bergeson On July 2, 2018, Midwest AgEnergy announced that the North Dakota Industrial Commission, a division of North Dakota’s State Department of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, had awarded it a $83,810 grant to research using North Dakota barley to produce ethanol with a protein concentrate byproduct for use in aquaculture. This would be the first ethanol produced North Dakota from a feedstock other than corn, and would include an expansion of the Dakota Spirit...
July 13, 2018
USDA Amends Guidelines For Designating Biobased Products
By Lynn L. Bergeson On July 10, 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Office of Procurement and Property Management announced it was amending the Guidelines for Designating Biobased Products for Federal Procurement to add 12 sections that designate product categories within which biobased products will be afforded federal procurement preference by federal agencies and their contractors via a final rule. 83 Fed. Reg. 31841. The Federal Register publication...