All Knowledge & Insights By Date

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are getting a lot of attention in the United States and globally. Their varied chemical properties make the categorization of “PFAS” into a single category chemically and scientifically questionable. Increasingly, the ability to make distinctions among this large chemical category is challenging, yet failure to do so could be unwise. This article provides information on PFAS, and offers a few suggestions to keep in mind when making business...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold a virtual public meeting April 20-21, 2022, to seek individual input on the proposed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) New Chemicals Collaborative Research Program. 87 Fed. Reg. 10784. In addition, EPA announced the availability of and is soliciting public comment on the draft document entitled “Modernizing the Process and Bringing Innovative Science to Evaluate New Chemicals Under TSCA.” EPA states that the Office of Chemical Safety...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold a virtual public meeting April 20-21, 2022, to seek individual input on the proposed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) New Chemicals Collaborative Research Program. 87 Fed. Reg. 10784. In addition, EPA announced the availability of and is soliciting public comment on the draft document entitled “Modernizing the Process and Bringing Innovative Science to Evaluate New Chemicals Under TSCA.” EPA...

As reported in our July 9, 2021, blog item, NanoHarmony aims to support the development of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) test guidelines (TG) and guidance documents (GD) for eight endpoints where nanomaterial-adapted test methods have been identified as a regulatory priority. To identify difficulties arising during the development process for TGs and GDs, NanoHarmony asked stakeholders to share their experiences in a short survey. According to NanoHarmony’s...

The ubiquity of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and the manufacturing sector’s decades-long reliance on them to impart functionalities in a dizzying array of products put the investor between the proverbial rock and a hard place. PFAS varied chemical properties make the broad categorisation of ‘PFAS’ into a monolithic category of ‘forever chemicals’ chemically and scientifically questionable. For better or worse, however, that is exactly what is happening today, and...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on February 22, 2022, the release of the updated Mercury Electronic Reporting (MER) application and compliance guide for calendar year 2021 data reporting. According to EPA, the updates make it easier to report information about the supply, use, and trade of mercury. The mercury rule applies to any person who manufactures (including imports) mercury or mercury-added products (including pre-assembled products that contain mercury-added...

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) announced on February 9, 2022, that the government introduced in the Senate the Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act (Bill S-5), intended to modernize the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) and make related amendments to the Food and Drugs Act (FDA). The bill was initially introduced in the 43rd Parliament in April 2021 as Bill C-28, but it was not considered due to the federal election...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) New Chemicals Program will hold a webinar on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. (EST) to learn about requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the premanufacture notice (PMN) process for biofuels. As reported in our January 24, 2022, blog item, in January 2022, EPA announced an effort to streamline the review of new biobased...

Download Transcript This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Baskut Tuncak, newly named Director, the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI), at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Baskut is a lawyer and former research chemist with a truly distinguished and fascinating career in a diverse range of public and private sector roles in toxics issues. Baskut most recently served as the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights. In our conversation,...