Both Turkey and South Korea are working to implement chemical management programs to comply with broader international initiatives. In December 2009, Turkey implemented new legislation concerning the classification, labeling, and packaging (CLP) of dangerous substances and preparations, and a regulation on safety data sheets (SDS) for dangerous substances and preparations. South Korea has initiated a process for the management of chemicals, with the objective of minimizing the harmful effects...
February 3, 2011
Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Assessing the Effectiveness of U.S. Chemical Safety Laws
On February 3, 2011, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics, and Environmental Health held a hearing entitled "Assessing the Effectiveness of U.S. Chemical Safety Laws." Subcommittee Chair Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) last year introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010, a bill that would have reformed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) by shifting the burden of proof to industry to show chemicals are safe, rather than the U.S. Environmental...
On January 18, 2011, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson signed a proposed rule that would revise EPA's February 6, 2006, final rule concerning protections for subjects in human research. According to EPA, the proposed amendments would broaden the applicability of the rules to cover human testing with pesticides submitted to EPA under any regulatory statute it administers. The proposed amendments would also disallow participation in third-party pesticide studies...
The Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published on January 19, 2011, a "plan containing 25 actions it intends to implement during 2011 to improve the most common path to market for medical devices." See FDA News Release, "FDA to improve most common review path for medical devices" (Jan. 19, 2011), available online. That path is the Premarket Notification, or 510(k) process, used for the bulk of medical device reviews...
January 10, 2011
CPSC Will Hold Web Conferences on the Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database
On January 7, 2011, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that it will hold two live web conferences on the publicly available consumer product safety information database. During the first web conference, scheduled for January 11, 2011, CPSC will demonstrate key functions of the database, such as how a consumer will be able to use the new online reporting form to submit a report of harm related to the use of a consumer product and how users can search for reports of harm...
Thank you for participating in Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.’s webinar on endocrine disruptors Monday, December 20, 2010. We are delighted that you were able to participate, and hope that you found the information and format useful and convenient. Request the materials from this webinar.
The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) released a December 23, 2010, letter from Linda S. Adams, California's Secretary for Environmental Protection to Assembly Member Mike Feuer, the author of the 2008 law (A.B. 1879) that would require regulations to address chemicals and chemical ingredients in consumer products. In the letter, Secretary Adams responded to Feuer's letter outlining his concerns about the DTSC's November 16, 2010, release of revisions to its "Safer...
On December 6-7, 2010, the State Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Issues Research & Evaluation Group (SFIREG) held its semi-annual full committee meeting at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) offices in Arlington, Virginia. Through a cooperative agreement in 1978, EPA and the Association of American Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO) created SFIREG, an AAPCO committee with EPA funding, to promote information exchange and cooperation between the...
On December 17, 2010, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued proposed regulations that would specify hazard traits, environmental and toxicological endpoints, and other relevant data that are to be included in the Toxics Information Clearinghouse (Clearinghouse) the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (CDTSC) will develop. CDTSC will use information from the Clearinghouse to help identify chemicals of concern in consumer products as part of...
December 14, 2010
Korea Publishes List of Potential GHS Classifications and Plans to Issue New Material Safety Data Sheet Rules
Korea has taken a major step toward achieving full compliance with the United Nations Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for the classification and labeling of chemicals by identifying 151 substances as "hazardous" for consultation. The Ministry of the Environment (MoE) in Korea also is placing more responsibilities on manufacturers and importers by introducing new rules regarding updating and content of material safety data sheets (MSDS). The MoE has given companies just ten days to comment on...