April 13, 2023
April 13, 2023
EPA Publishes ANPRM Seeking Information to Assist in Consideration of Future CERCLA Regulations Regarding PFAS
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on April 13, 2023, seeking information to assist in the consideration of potential development of future regulations pertaining to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). 88 Fed. Reg. 22399. EPA states that it seeks input and data regarding potential future hazardous substance designation under...
April 13, 2023
USDA Researchers Develop Natural, Washable, Antimicrobial Cleaning Wipes Using Nanocomposite Raw Cot
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on April 11, 2023, that its Agricultural Research Service (ARS) recently developed sustainable, machine-washable antimicrobial wipes that can be used at least 30 times for cleaning hard and nonporous surfaces. According to USDA, ARS researchers developed the antimicrobial wipes “by using raw cotton fiber that naturally produced silver nanoparticles inside the fiber in the presence of a silver...
April 12, 2023
USDA Researchers Develop Natural, Washable, Antimicrobial Cleaning Wipes Using Nanocomposite Raw Cotton Fiber
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on April 11, 2023, that its Agricultural Research Service (ARS) recently developed sustainable, machine-washable antimicrobial wipes that can be used at least 30 times for cleaning hard and nonporous surfaces. According to USDA, ARS researchers developed the antimicrobial wipes “by using raw cotton fiber that naturally produced silver nanoparticles inside the fiber in the presence of a silver precursor.” USDA states that the...
April 12, 2023
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Congress Strengthens Cosmetics Regulations,” Chemical Processing, April 12, 2023.
In a somewhat unexpected move, Congress enacted the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA) on December 29, 2022, as part of the Omnibus Appropriations Act. MoCRA significantly strengthens the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authority over cosmetic products. Key provisions are summarized in this article.
April 12, 2023
APHIS Seeks Comment on Draft Environmental Documents for Deregulation of Corn Developed Using Geneti
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on April 10, 2023, that it is inviting public comment on a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and draft Plant Pest Risk Assessment (PPRA). 88 Fed. Reg. 21602. APHIS states that it produced these documents in response to a petition from Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. seeking deregulation of a corn variety developed using genetic...
April 11, 2023
Paper Proposes Further Actions to Harmonize Testing of Nanomaterials for EU Regulatory Requirements
On April 6, 2023, NanoHarmony announced publication of a paper in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology entitled “Towards harmonisation of testing of nanomaterials for EU regulatory requirements on chemical safety — A proposal for further actions.” The paper provides an overview of the information requirements across different European Union (EU) regulatory areas. For each information requirement, experts identified potential needs for further action to accommodate...
On April 11, 2023, Chemical Processing quoted Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule to cut toxic emissions by 6,000 tons per year. The EPA estimated that chemical producers would incur about $501 million in total capital costs and approximately $190 million in total annualized costs to comply with updates to National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, which the...
On April 6, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a suit brought by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) to prevent Inhance Technologies USA (Inhance) from generating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) when fluorinating plastic containers. As reported in our January 6, 2023, blog item, CEH and PEER sought a court order restraining Inhance from continued manufacture of PFAS in violation of a...
April 11, 2023
EPA Will Hold GenRA Training on May 23, 2023
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold training on May 23, 2023, on Generalized Read-Across (GenRA), a publicly available tool that uses an automated approach to make reproducible read-across predictions of toxicity. EPA states that read-across “is a commonly used data gap filling technique whereby endpoint information for one substance is used to predict the same endpoint for another substance, supported by structural or...