Articles

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently proposed revisions to the injury and illness reporting and recordkeeping requirements for employers. The proposal would increase workplace safety and health through improved tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses....

This “Compliance Advisor” column outlines thoughts on what might be headed our way in 2014 from the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Beyond the election-driven rhetoric, demands of the discrete issues that routinely come before program management will drive the EPA. An added and complicating concern may be the impact on these and all issues of continued budget cuts that challenge the EPA’s ability to...

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published on January 6, 2014, a report entitled Nanotechnologies — Considerations for the development of chemical nomenclature for selected nano-objects (ISO/TR 14786:2014), which is intended to provide information and analyses in support of the development of chemical nomenclature for the naming of “nano-objects.”...

The EPA issued important guidance under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) on the regulatory status of commercial chemical products (CCP). This “Legal Lookout” column explains why the guidance is important, and explains it in more detail....

Biofuels have gotten all the press. But biobased chemicals have equal environmental and health potential, and also the most exposure under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Implications range from irritating to crippling, depending upon a manufacturer’s response....

In a game-changing bipartisan show of support for reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that few saw coming, United States (US) Senators David Vitter (R-LA) and the late Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)—among bipartisan others—introduced on May 22, 2013, the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA), later designated Senate Bill 1009 (S.1009). CSIA provides a new and streamlined approach to reforming TSCA that stakeholders may view favorably when compared to legislative templates that have...

Most GHS adoptions will complete implementation by 2015, mandating that all mixtures must be classified according to the particular legislation of that jurisdiction. Although some variation will remain between labelling information and hazard category adoption, this greatly simplifies the process of classification and labelling for retail and consumer products. This level of harmonisation, together with the standardisation of transport labels, offers the promise of greatly simplifying and...

On December 20, 2013, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a document entitled Protecting the Nanotechnology Workforce: NIOSH Nanotechnology Research and Guidance Strategic Plan, 2013-2016. See http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2014-106/ NIOSH describes the document as “the roadmap being used to advance basic understanding of the toxicology and workplace exposures involved so that appropriate risk management practices can be implemented during...

On December 4, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule entailing the use of electronic reporting for certain reporting requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), effective March 4, 2014. This article summarizes the final rule....

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published Technical Specification (TS) 13830:2013, “Nanotechnologies — Guidance on voluntary labelling for consumer products containing manufactured nano-objects.” See https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:ts:13830:ed-1:v1:en The purpose of the guidance “is to provide a framework to facilitate a harmonized approach for the voluntary provision of labelling for [consumer products containing...