By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that up to $20 million in funding is available for workforce development at universities in emerging energy fields. Aiming to prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers, DOE’s investment will fund a land grant university to pursue interdisciplinary research through the support of expansions of existing joint graduate education programs with DOE National Laboratories. This effort will be led by...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 6, 2020, EPA announced via the Federal Register its final rule on requirements for regulated entities to substantiate certain confidential business information (CBI) made under TSCA. The substantiation requirements describe the applicable procedures and provide instructions for regulated entities, providing the review criteria and related procedures that EPA will use to complete the reviews within the five-year time frame set in TSCA. The final rule will be effective...
March 12, 2020
All Things Chemical™ Episode “TSCA Update — A Conversation with Richard E. Engler, Ph.D.”
This week, I sat down with my colleague, Dr. Richard Engler, Director of Chemistry here at B&C and The Acta Group (Acta®). We brought everyone up to date on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) fee rule and how it applies to entities obligated to pay a portion of the $1,350,000 per chemical fee for preparing an EPA-initiated risk evaluation, the legal and regulatory significance of the supplemental rulemaking on...
March 11, 2020
EPA Announces Latest Update to TSCA Inventory
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on March 11, 2020, the availability of the latest Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory. EPA states that this biannual update to the public TSCA Inventory is part of its regular posting of non-confidential TSCA Inventory data. According to EPA, this update adds 81 new chemicals, and the Inventory as a whole now contains 86,405 chemicals of which 41,484 are active in U.S commerce. Other updates to the TSCA...
March 11, 2020
ISO Standard Specifies Characteristics and Measurement Methods for Carbon Nanotube Suspensions
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published standard ISO/TS 19808:2020, “Nanotechnologies — Carbon nanotube suspensions — Specification of characteristics and measurement methods.” The standard specifies the characteristics to be measured of suspensions containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (carbon nanotube suspensions). The standard includes the essential and additional characteristics of the carbon nanotube suspension, and the corresponding...
March 11, 2020
FTC and FDA Send Warning Letters to Seven Companies about Unsupported Claims that Products Can Treat or Prevent Coronavirus
On March 10, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that warning letters were sent to seven companies for allegedly selling unapproved products that may violate federal law by making deceptive or scientifically unsupported claims about their ability to treat coronavirus (COVID-19). The warning letters are the first issued by the Agencies alleging unapproved and/or unsupported claims that products can treat or prevent...
March 11, 2020
EPA Extends Comment Period for Proposed Registration Decision for New Nanosilver Product
As reported in our February 13, 2020 blog item, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on February 12, 2020, that it is seeking public input on a proposal to incorporate a new nanosilver pesticide product into textiles to combat odors, discoloration, and other signs of wear. The proposed registration decision is for NSPW Nanosilver, and the proposed pesticide product, Polyguard-NSPW Master Batch (Polyguard), will be incorporated into textiles to suppress bacteria, algae,...
On March 5, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is seeking grant applications through the Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program from states, federally recognized tribes, universities, local governments, and other groups to support innovative solutions for source reduction or pollution prevention (P2) through research, education, training, or certain other methods. EPA notes that as it highlights chemical safety during the month of March, “these...
March 10, 2020
SCCS Guidance on Safety Assessment of Nanomaterials in Cosmetics Published in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology
The European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) announced on March 3, 2020, that the April 2020 issue of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology includes “The SCCS guidance on the safety assessment of nanomaterials in cosmetics.” The highlights state that: The guidance provides an overview of the key issues and data requirements relating to the safety assessment of nanomaterials; The guidance facilitates the applicants and the risk assessors in...