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On February 15, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) announced plans to seek public input on the best approaches for updating their respective oversight responsibilities for specific products. EPA states the goal is to determine responsibilities in an efficient and transparent manner and in alignment with each agency’s...

On February 14, 2023, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) announced a much anticipated proposed rule intended to provide additional guidance on the notification requirements and sales prohibitions for products and product components containing intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). MDEP will hold a public hearing on April 20, 2023. Comments are due May 19, 2023, by 5:00 p.m. (EDT). Background Maine enacted “An Act To...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on February 16, 2023, that the latest Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Substance Inventory is now available on its website. The TSCA Inventory is a list of all existing chemical substances manufactured, processed, or imported in the United States. According to EPA, this update to the public TSCA Inventory is part of its biannual posting of non-confidential Inventory data. EPA plans the next regular update of the TSCA...

On February 15, 2023, Bloomberg Law quoted Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), regarding claims by environmental groups that the European Union (EU) has failed to update rules on nanomaterials, leading to insufficient information being provided about the potential health and environmental risks posed by the substances.  An update of REACH is being prepared that will, among other things, write the mid-2022 definition of...

On February 15, 2023, the Environmental Coalition on Standards (ECOS) and the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND), non-governmental organizations in Europe working on both standardization and nanotechnologies, announced the release of a report entitled “Making nano- and advanced materials safe for all: State of play of discussions at the OECD.” According to the organizations, the use of nanomaterials remains underregulated in the European Union (EU). The press...

Download transcript. This week, I welcomed back to the studio Karin F. Baron, Director of Hazard Communication and International Registration Strategy at B&C and our consulting affiliate, The Acta Group. During this 100th All Things Chemical podcast, Karin and I discuss the very important recently released amendments to the Canadian Hazardous Products Regulations (HPR). The amendments are intended to align the HPR with the seventh revised edition (Rev 7) of the United Nations (UN)...

According to a February 13, 2023, press release issued by France’s Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion and Ministry of Energy Transition, France is appealing the November 23, 2022, decision of the European General Court that annuls the 2019 harmonized classification and labeling of titanium dioxide as a carcinogenic substance by inhalation in certain powder forms. As reported in our December 6, 2022, memorandum, the court concluded that the European...

This article focuses on one of many abrupt, and in some views, unlawful, EPA policy shifts frustrating lawyers and confusing the public. The EPA moved in 2021 from a “conditions of use” approach to evaluating chemical risk to a “whole chemical” approach. This seemingly modest change is a key reason why lawyers advising chemical stakeholders are struggling and why there may be a lot of TSCA litigation in the EPA’s future....

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on February 13, 2023, that it will accept public comments on candidates under consideration for selection as ad hoc reviewers to assist the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) with peer review of two draft documents related to cumulative risk assessment under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Biographies of these candidates are available on regulations.gov. If selected, candidates will serve as...