All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On November 3-5, 2009, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) met to consider for the first time scientific issues related to the assessment of potential hazard and exposure associated with nanosilver and other nanometal pesticide products. This column briefly summarizes the discussion, and speculates on the outcome.

In December 2008, Turkey enacted the Inventory and Control of Chemicals Regulation, a scaled-down version of the European Union’s REACH regulation to establish an inventory of chemicals produced and imported into Turkey and to better control potential risks posed by those chemical substances. Adoption of the regulation is one of many steps Turkey is required to take to secure membership in the European Union. The authors of this article advise chemical manufacturers and importers to obtain as...

On January 8, 2010, the United Kingdom (UK) House of Lords Science and Technology Committee announced the availability of its report entitled Nanotechnologies and Food, which criticizes the food industry for failing to be transparent about its research into the uses of nanotechnologies and nanomaterials. In its report, the Committee urges the Government and Research Councils to fund research into potential health and safety risks arising from the use of nanomaterials in the food sector. The...

On January 8, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) extended until February 8, 2010, the comment period for its November 6, 2009, proposed significant new use rules (SNUR) for multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) and single-walled CNTs.  According to the January 8, 2010, notice, EPA received a request to extend the comment period.  On December 1, 2009, the U.S. World Trade Organization (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Inquiry Point at the National Institute of Standards...

The January 8, 2010, issue of BNA Daily Environment Report quotes Charles Auer regarding the request from the European Economic Community's World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade Inquiry Point to extend the comment period on a proposed significant new use rule for two carbon nanotubes.

In the January 5, 2010, issue of Chemical Watch, Lynn L. Bergeson describes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's chemical action plans as "breathtaking in scope." According to Bergeson, the fact that the Office of Management and Budget reviewed the action plans "portends potentially great and largely unfettered EPA activity in the months to come."

The January 5, 2010, issue of BNA Daily Environment Report quotes Charles Auer and Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.'s (B&C) December 31, 2009, memorandum regarding the action plans announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on December 30, 2009. Auer described the action plans as "very ambitious" and noted that it remains to be seen whether EPA will have the staff and other resources to be as ambitious as it wants to be. In its memorandum, B&C stated: “EPA has never...

TSCA/FIFRA/NTP/EPCRA EPA Announces Peer Review Workshop On 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane -- On December 17, 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the scheduling of an external scientific peer review workshop to review the external review draft document titled, "Toxicological Review of 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane: In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)" (EPA/635/R-09/001). 74 Fed. Reg. 66963. The draft document was prepared by...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on December 30, 2009, issued a breathtaking series of action plans on "Risk List" chemicals that will shape future legislative proposals which industry will need to participate in and monitor.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed on Sept. 30, 2009, to align the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) with provisions of the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The HCS requires chemical manufacturers and importers to evaluate chemical hazards and provide information to subsequent users. The standard now requires employers to establish a hazard communication program for employees who are exposed to chemicals...

Publicly traded companies are required, under Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, to disclose known and contingent material liabilities to ensure investors have reliable information on which to base their investment decisions. Increasingly, investor groups, nongovernment organizations (NGO), and others demand companies assess and disclose their financial risks from climate change. Following are recent developments advising that companies carefully consider how best to address...

Approximately 5.4 million cubic yards, or 1.1 billion gallons, of coal ash from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) plant near Knoxville, Tenn., in December 2008 flooded some 300 acres of land, damaging property, polluting waterways, and killing fish. TVA will likely spend more than $500 million and perhaps as much as $1 billion dollars on the cleanup, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The TVA debacle was EPA’s wake-up call for potential hazards presented by coal ash staged...

On April 15, 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final list of chemicals in the first group of substances that will be screened under the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). Development of this list caps a long, thoughtful, and arduous administrative process that spans over a decade. This “Washington Watch” column briefly reviews the development of the program, with emphasis on key elements of the current EDSP. The discussion also highlights the...

The Silver Nanotechnology Working Group (SNWG) issued a press release regarding its presentation to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) at its November 3-6, 2009, meeting. EPA asked the SAP “to consider and review a set of scientific issues related to the assessment of hazard and exposure associated with nanosilver and other nanometal pesticide products.” According to EPA, companies with an interest in marketing products that contain...

Today the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals (Fourth Report), which provides an ongoing assessment of the exposure of the U.S. population to environmental chemicals using biomonitoring.  The Fourth Report presents data for the U.S. population for 212 environmental chemicals over the period 2003-2004, updating CDC’s 2005 Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental...

Earlier today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of a policy paper entitled Revised Risk Assessment Methods for Workers, Children of Workers in Agricultural Fields, and Pesticides with No Food Uses, which describes how EPA plans to use revised methods in conducting risk assessments for pesticide uses and exposures not governed by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).  According to EPA, implementing this policy will increase...

During the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Member State Committee’s December 2-4, 2009, meeting, the Committee unanimously agreed that 15 new substances of very high concern (SVHC) would be added to the Candidate List.  The Committee also unanimously agreed on a testing proposal from ECHA that was submitted under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation.  More information on these actions is provided below. 15 SVHCs to Be Added to...

On November 3-5, 2009, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) met “to consider and review a set of scientific issues related to the assessment of hazard and exposure associated with nanosilver and other nanometal pesticide products.” The decision to convene an SAP was nominally motivated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) need to consider four applications pending at the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) seeking...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. extends its best wishes to our clients and many friends and we wish you and your family a happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year. TSCA/FIFRA/NTP/EPCRA EPA Issues Technical Amendment Of Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule -- On November 17, 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amended the Final Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule (CROMERR) to exclude from the regulation all documents and information submitted electronically to EPA by...

The November 30, 2009, issue of BNA Daily Environment Report quotes Lynn L. Bergeson regarding the cosmetics regulation recently adopted by the European Union Council. The regulation would require that manufacturers label products that include nanomaterials. According to Bergeson, consumer confidence and a manufacturer's brand name could be harmed if the word “nano” is disclosed with incorrect or no context.