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Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), its global consulting affiliate The Acta Group (Acta®), and consortia management affiliate B&C® Consortia Management, L.L.C. (BCCM) are pleased to share with you our 2025 Forecast. For all the reasons you might imagine, our seasoned team was especially challenged this year in speculating on what to expect in 2025 regarding global industrial, agricultural, and biocidal chemical regulatory and policy initiatives. Given the European Parliamentary...

On June 22, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the 2024 submission period for the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule is from June 1, 2024, to September 30, 2024. 88 Fed. Reg. 40816. The CDR rule requires manufacturers (including importers) of chemical substances on the TSCA Inventory above an applicable regulatory threshold to report to EPA, every four years, information concerning the manufacturing,...

On June 20, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed significant new use rules (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 18 chemicals that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN) and are also subject to an order issued by EPA pursuant to TSCA. 88 Fed. Reg. 39804. The SNURs would require persons who intend to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) or process any of these chemical substances for an activity that is proposed as a...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on June 15, 2023, that it will issue proposed significant new use rules (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 18 chemicals made from plastic waste-derived feedstocks. According to EPA, the proposed SNURs would require notification to and review by EPA before these fuels could be made using plastic waste-derived feedstocks that contain impurities like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), heavy metals, dioxins,...

The European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published on May 16, 2023, the 12th revision of The SCCS Notes of Guidance for the Testing of Cosmetic Ingredients and Their Safety Evaluation. The guidance contains information on the different aspects of testing and safety evaluation of cosmetic substances in Europe. The emphasis of the guidance is on cosmetic ingredients, but it notes that “some guidance is also indirectly given for the safety assessment of...

The European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) has begun a public consultation on its preliminary opinion on fullerenes, hydroxylated fullerenes, and hydrated forms of hydroxylated fullerenes (nano). The EC asked SCCS if it considers fullerenes, hydroxylated fullerenes, and hydrated forms of hydroxylated fullerenes safe when used in cosmetic products according to the maximum concentrations and specifications as reported via the Cosmetic Product...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published the latest edition of the Developments in Delegations on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials and Advanced Materials — Tour de Table. The Tour de Table compiles information provided by delegations on the occasion of the 22nd meeting of the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) in June 2022.  The Tour de Table lists U.S. developments on the human health and...

On March 30, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) New Chemicals Program (NCP) held the second of a two-part webinar series on EPA’s new standardized process to assess risk and apply mitigation measures, as appropriate, for mixed metal oxides (MMO), including new and modified cathode active materials (CAM). Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA reviews new chemical substances before they enter the marketplace to ensure they do not present unreasonable risk to...

On March 29, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) relating to the Superfund excise taxes imposed on certain chemicals and certain imported substances, effective July 1, 2022. 88 Fed. Reg. 18446. There are two separate Superfund chemical excise taxes: a tax on the sale or use of “taxable chemicals” and a tax on the sale or use of imported “taxable substances.” The NPRM contains proposed regulations under Sections 4661, 4662, 4671,...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has opened registration for the second of its two-part webinar series on EPA’s new standardized process to assess risk and apply mitigation measures, as appropriate, for mixed metal oxides (MMO), including new and modified cathode active materials (CAM). The webinar, which will be held March 30, 2023, will give an in-depth look into the standardized risk assessment approach and present various case scenarios and a decision tree for identifying...

The kickoff workshop for Nano4EARTH was held January 24-25, 2023. Nano4EARTH will leverage recent investments in understanding and controlling matter at the nanoscale to develop technologies, industries, and training opportunities that address climate change. On January 26, 2023, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a press release summarizing the workshop. According to OSTP, more than 400 people across sectors, with diverse expertise and...

On February 1, 2023, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) will hold a webinar on the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) implications of metal nanoparticles in aquatic environments. According to NNI, the focus will be on copper and copper oxide, nickel, and silver nanoparticles. Each expert panelist will provide an overview on the current state of knowledge for a particular metal nanoparticle. The panelists will discuss methods used for identifying, measuring, and assessing the...

Download Transcript This week, Dr. Richard E. Engler, Director of Chemistry for B&C and The Acta Group, our consulting affiliate, returned to the studio to discuss the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) bold moves in developing new chemical categories to help streamline the review of new chemicals under Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 5. While the categorical approach to new chemical review is by no means new, it has stalled out in recent years, and EPA’s...

On December 15, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a redesign and updates to the statistics web page for the New Chemicals Review Program. According to EPA, the update includes additional information and metrics on the Agency’s review of new chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), increasing transparency for the public, the regulated community, and other stakeholders. According to EPA, before TSCA was amended in 2016 by the...

On November 17, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held the first of a two-part webinar series on EPA’s new standardized process to assess risk and apply mitigation measures, as appropriate, for mixed metal oxides (MMO), including new and modified cathode active materials (CAM). Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA reviews new chemical substances before they enter the marketplace to ensure they do not present unreasonable risk to human health or the environment....

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on November 10, 2022, the availability of the final revision to the risk determination for the methylene chloride risk evaluation issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 87 Fed .Reg. 67901. EPA states that the revision to the methylene chloride risk determination reflects its announced policy changes to ensure the public is protected from unreasonable risks from chemicals in a way that is supported by science...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on November 9, 2022, that it awarded $7,770,044 in research grant funding to 11 institutions to develop and evaluate innovative methods and approaches to inform its understanding of the human health risks that may result from exposure to chemical mixtures in the environment. EPA states that toxicology studies have traditionally focused on the effects of single chemicals on human health. Chemicals in the environment are often...

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced on November 7, 2022, that it published a study on the EU market for nanomaterials, including substances, uses, volumes, and key producers, traders, and users. The study also covers the European Economic Area (EEA) countries and Switzerland. EUON states that according to the study, which was carried out in 2021 as a combination of literature research, surveys, and interviews, the European nanomaterial market is...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on November 4, 2022, that it will hold the first of a two-part webinar series on November 17, 2022, on EPA’s new standardized process to assess risk and apply mitigation measures, as appropriate, for mixed metal oxides (MMO), including new and modified cathode active materials (CAM). As reported in our October 11, 2022, memorandum, in October 2022, EPA announced an innovative effort intended to help make its review of new MMOs,...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a webinar on November 1, 2022, on a new research funding opportunity, “Developing and Demonstrating Nanosensor Technology to Detect, Monitor, and Degrade Pollutants.” EPA states that environmental pollutants such as pesticides, insecticides, dyes, phenols, endocrine disrupters, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), heavy metals, and nitrogen compounds can have adverse effects on human health...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 5, 2022, a new effort under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to implement a streamlined and more efficient process under the New Chemicals Program to assess risk and apply mitigation measures, as appropriate, for new chemicals with applications in batteries, electric vehicles, semiconductors, and renewable energy generation. The new process is for mixed metal oxides (MMO), including new and modified...

On September 13, 2022, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “Can the Brain’s Gatekeeper Fight a Nano-Attack?” by Dr. Eugenia (Éva) Valsami-Jones, Professor of Environmental Nanoscience at the University of Birmingham, who co-authored an article entitled “Biotransformation modulates the penetration of metallic nanomaterials across an artificial blood–brain barrier model.” The researchers set out to explore systematically how...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 8, 2022, that it selected 39 recipients that will receive nearly $12 million in pollution prevention (P2) grants made possible by President Joseph Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $100 million program investment. According to EPA, the grants will allow states and Tribes to provide businesses with technical assistance to help them develop and adopt P2 practices to prevent or reduce pollution before it is even...

 By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on August 11, 2022, that a research team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory investigated how potassium in biomass feedstocks poisons a catalyst. The researchers focused their study on potassium, a common alkali metal found in biomass feedstocks, since previous analysis of deactivated catalysts after catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) of woody biomass...

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released on August 9, 2022, a report entitled Review of Fate, Exposure, and Effects of Sunscreens in Aquatic Environments and Implications for Sunscreen Usage and Human Health. NASEM was tasked by Congress and funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to undertake a consensus study of the potential risk of ultraviolet (UV) filters on already threatened aquatic environments and the potential...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published on June 29, 2022, the final scope of the risk evaluation to be conducted for Asbestos Part 2: Supplemental Evaluation Including Legacy Uses and Associated Disposals of Asbestos. 87 Fed. Reg. 38746. EPA will evaluate the conditions of use (COU) of asbestos, including other types of asbestos fibers in addition to chrysotile, that EPA had excluded from Part 1 as legacy uses and associated disposals, as well as any COUs of...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (ORCR) published a request for information (RFI) on June 9, 2022, seeking information on the end-of-life management of batteries, including their generation, collection, recycling, and reuse, as well as the current labeling standards and requirements for batteries regarding their end-of-life. 87 Fed. Reg. 35202. According to the RFI, EPA is developing best practices with respect to the collection...

According to a May 9, 2022, news item published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Advancing EPA’s Understanding of the Next Generation of Pesticides,” over the past decade, EPA “has received an increasing number of pesticide product applications that potentially contain nanomaterials.” The article notes that EPA’s current pesticide review method was not designed for nanomaterials, so each product is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. An EPA research team led by EPA...

According to a May 9, 2022, news item published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Advancing EPA’s Understanding of the Next Generation of Pesticides,” over the past decade, EPA “has received an increasing number of pesticide product applications that potentially contain nanomaterials.” The article notes that EPA’s current pesticide review method was not designed for nanomaterials, so each product is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. An EPA research team led by EPA...

The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) has launched two calls for tenders to conduct studies on nanomaterials. The first call for tender is on valid in silico modeling tools and read-across approaches, including creating case studies on read-across for specific types of nanomaterials. According to the call for tender, the study proposes to examine the use of these tools for nanomaterials and to draw potential conclusions (for both regulators and industry/small-...

On January 21, 2022, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) published a second statement on emerging health and environmental issues. SCHEER members have identified nine emerging issues in the non-food area as having a potential impact on human health and/or the environment in the future and have given them overall prioritization scores (*, 1, 2, or 3, where * is uncertain and three is high). The emerging issues...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published the latest edition of the Developments in Delegations on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials — Tour de Table. The Tour de Table compiles information provided by delegations on developments concerning the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. It includes the following information on developments in the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completed review of two low volume...

Click here for a PDF brochure of the memorandum. Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and its consulting affiliate The Acta Group (Acta®) and consortia management affiliate B&C® Consortia Management, L.L.C. (BCCM) are pleased to offer you our Forecast 2022. The extraordinary diversity and complexity of global industrial, agricultural, and biocidal chemical initiatives in which our clients engage are reflected in the detailed summary that follows, prepared by the legal,...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on December 29, 2021, the availability of the Draft Scope of the Risk Evaluation for Asbestos Part 2: Supplemental Evaluation Including Legacy Uses and Associated Disposals of Asbestos (Draft Scope). 86 Fed. Reg. 74088. In the Part 2 risk evaluation, EPA will evaluate the conditions of use of asbestos (including other types of asbestos fibers in addition to chrysotile) that EPA had excluded from Part 1 as legacy uses and...

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently published ISO/TS 23650:2021, “Nanotechnologies — Evaluation of the antimicrobial performance of textiles containing manufactured nanomaterials.” ISO states that the standard specifies the antimicrobial performance assessment method for textiles containing manufactured (metals/metal oxides) nanomaterials. The textiles in the standard include fabric, yarn, and fiber in which manufactured nanomaterials are used during the...

On November 8, 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) was presented to President Joseph Biden (D) for signature. The House passed the bill on November 5, 2021, by a vote of 228 to 206, and the Senate passed the bill on August 10, 2021, by a vote of 69 to 30. The bill contains many important provisions. We highlight below some of the provisions in the 1,039-page bill that we believe our clients and friends may find interesting. Pesticides Under the bill, the...

On October 26, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the winners of its Cleaner Indoor Air During Wildfires Challenge. The honorable mention awardees include Metalmark Clean Air Device, “[a] device that uses a novel nanomaterial coating on a filter to enable destruction of captured particulate matter [(PM)] when the filter is heated to high temperature.” EPA states that Metalmark indicates that its initial testing in a small chamber using...

On October 18, 2021, the Biden Administration announced a multi-agency plan to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination nationwide. According to the White House, agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Defense (DOD), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), will take actions to...

In honor of National Nanotechnology Day, and as part of a series for its 50th anniversary, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has posted a blog item entitled “National Nanotechnology Day: A big day for small things.” NIOSH states that it has been at the forefront of efforts to characterize the potential hazards for those working with engineered nanomaterials and to ensure safe workplaces since the early 2000s, including the creation of the...

On August 31, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of the final scope documents for the manufacturer-requested risk evaluations (MRRE) of di-isodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and diisononyl phthalate (DINP). 86 Fed. Reg. 48695; 86 Fed. Reg. 48693. The scope documents include the conditions of use, hazards, exposures, and the potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations that EPA plans to consider in conducting the risk...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on August 6, 2021, that it will provide $9,272,545 in funding to seven institutions for research to estimate better children’s chemical exposures from soil and dust ingestion. According to EPA, the research will focus on improving estimates of children’s ingestion rates of chemicals such as lead, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and asbestos. EPA states that “[a]ccurate, comprehensive measurements of soil and dust...

By Lynn L. Bergeson   On June 1, 2021, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) announced that its scientists have developed a novel solvent that results in a more efficient process to recover valuable materials from used lithium-ion batteries. According to ORNL’s press release, this new method supports a stable domestic supply chain for new batteries and keeps old ones out of landfills.   Currently, the recycling process of batteries involves smelting, which is an...

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has published Current Intelligence Bulletin 70: Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Silver Nanomaterials. According to the Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB), NIOSH assessed potential health risk from exposure to silver nanomaterials by evaluating more than 100 studies of silver nanomaterials in animals or cells. The CIB states that recent studies in animals have demonstrated that biologic activity and potential...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 28, 2021, DOE issued a $22.5 million request for proposals (RFP) for projects that support recovery, recycling, and reuse of material waste generated by the manufacturing sector.  DOE EERE stated that “[p]rojects funded through this solicitation will develop technologies that reduce embodied energy and carbon emissions associated with the production and consumption of metals, polymers, fibers, and electronic waste, as well as identify training...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on April 29, 2021, that it will be “taking important steps under the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) to advance Environmental Justice, improve transparency, and increase access to environmental information.” EPA plans to expand the scope of TRI reporting requirements to include additional chemicals and facilities, including facilities that are not currently reporting on ethylene oxide (EtO) releases, and provide new...

On February 8, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received a petition seeking a rule reversing EPA’s 1991 Bevill regulatory determination excluding phosphogypsum and process wastewater from phosphoric acid production (process wastewater) from hazardous waste regulation under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The petition also urges EPA to promulgate regulations under RCRA Subtitle C governing the safe treatment, storage, and disposal...

The Verband der Mineralfarbenindustrie e. V. (VdMi), which represents German manufacturers of inorganic, organic, and metallic pigments, fillers, carbon black, ceramic and glass colors, food colorants, artists’ and school paints, masterbatches, and products for applied photocatalysis, has published a “Comparative Compilation of relevant nano definitions in different regulations and their corresponding consequences.”  The compilation notes that pigments and fillers often fall under the...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published the latest edition of the Developments in Delegations on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials — Tour de Table.  The Tour de Table compiles information provided by delegations on the occasion of the 20th meeting of the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) in September 2020.  Below are highlights from the Tour de Table: Canada: Canada is developing a nanomaterial...

By   Lynn L. Bergeson  EPA announced on January 8, 2021, that it released an updated and improved version of OncoLogic™, a system used to evaluate a chemical’s potential to cause cancer. EPA states that, in partnership with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), it developed “a more user-friendly version of the most widely used piece of this system, greatly expanding its usability across the agency and the scientific community.”...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 8, 2021, that it released an updated and improved version of OncoLogic™, a system used to evaluate a chemical’s potential to cause cancer.  EPA states that, in partnership with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), it developed “a more user-friendly version of the most widely used piece of this system, greatly expanding its usability across the agency and the scientific...