On June 30, 2020, from 9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. (EDT), the European Union (EU) NanoSafety Cluster will hold a webinar on “Immune response from occupational exposure to CNTs and nanofibres.” The following speakers will discuss work at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on the association of occupational exposure with ex vivo functional immune response in workers handling carbon nanotubes and...
This week's All Things Chemical™ Podcast will be of interest to readers of the TSCAblog™. A brief description of the episode written by Lynn L. Bergeson is below. This week I sat down with EPA Assistant Administrator Alexandra Dunn. As many of our listeners know, Alex Dunn heads the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention and is responsible for implementing the nation’s industrial and agricultural chemical laws, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Federal...
June 25, 2020
Final Risk Evaluation for Methylene Chloride Is First Completed under Lautenberg Act Amendments
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice on June 24, 2020, announcing the availability of the final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation for methylene chloride. 85 Fed. Reg. 37942. This is the first risk evaluation that EPA has completed under the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg Act) amendments to TSCA. After evaluating 53 conditions of use of methylene chloride, EPA determined that...
June 24, 2020
EPA Orders OCCS, Inc. to Stop Sales of Unregistered Antimicrobial Disinfectant Products
On June 17, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Stop Sale, Use, or Removal Order (SSURO) to OCCS, Inc. (OCCS) for the sale and distribution of unregistered antimicrobial disinfectants. EPA Region 9 states in a press release that OCCS, a chemical supply company located in Stanton, California, distributed and sold two unregistered products, Sanitizer/Quat Solution Ready to Use and Quat Solution Ready to Use Cleaner, in violation of the Federal Insecticide,...
June 24, 2020
TSCA Reform – Four Years Later, June 24, 2020, 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (EDT), via webinar
Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), ELI, and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health were pleased to present "TSCA Reform -- Four Years Later." This complimentary virtual conference marked the fourth Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Annual Conference, reflecting on the accomplishments and challenges since the implementation of the 2016 Lautenberg Amendments and where TSCA stood on that day.
During the week of June 15, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California heard from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final three witnesses: Dr. Joyce Tsuji, Dr. Ellen Chang, and Dr. Tala Henry. Food & Water Watch, Inc. v. EPA, Case No. 3:17-cv-02162-EMC. Dr. Tsuji did not dispute that fluoride can be a neurotoxin at “high enough levels.” Dr. Tsuji contended that the scientific literature remains too limited to establish...
The 24th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering (GC&E) Conference, originally scheduled to take place in Seattle, WA, was a virtual event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. GC&E, hosted by the American Chemical Society’s Green Chemistry Institute, has been a meeting ground for advancing sustainable science and solutions since 1997. The theme for the 2020 conference was “Systems-Inspired Design.” Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry at Bergeson &...
June 18, 2020
Video and Slides Available from National Academies Briefing Webinar on Quadrennial Review of NNI
On June 9, 2020, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies) held a briefing webinar featuring its report, A Quadrennial Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. During the webinar, members of the ad hoc National Academies committee discussed how U.S. nanotechnology programs compare to those in other nations, whether coordination under the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) should continue, and how to improve the NNI’s...
On June 9, 2020, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies) held a briefing webinar featuring its report, A Quadrennial Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. During the webinar, members of the ad hoc National Academies committee discussed how U.S. nanotechnology programs compare to those in other nations, whether coordination under the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) should continue, and how to improve the NNI’s...