** UPDATE 8/29/2018 ** NTP just released a draft report recommending that “frequent and long term night shift work … that causes circadian disruption is known to be a human carcinogen” based on human studies.
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Reach of Consumer Product Chemical Disclosures Set to Expand Significantly with Launch of New EU Database
The European Union (EU) is about to dramatically expand the reach of mandatory chemical disclosure requirements for consumer products. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced recently that it is preparing to launch, by the end of 2019, a new database
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California Proposition 65: Beware of Liability for Website Sales
Historically, the bulk of Prop 65 actions have come from plaintiff attorneys sending waves of people into retail stores in California to purchase and then test products for possible exposures to listed chemicals. This paradigm is shifting increasingly to a
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Science Transparency: Not a New Concept for EPA
“Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions … The public must be able to trust the science and the scientific process informing public policy decisions.”
Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt introducing the 2018 proposal he championed on
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Prop 65 Court Win for Cereal Manufacturers Sets the Table for Further Challenges to Warning Requirements
In a remarkable and perhaps precedent-setting decision, a California appellate court sided with cereal manufacturers in ruling last week that Proposition 65 cancer warnings for acrylamide were preempted by federal policy encouraging the consumption of more whole grains. In overturning a lower court ruling finding no preemption, the three-judge panel of the state appeals court gave remarkable deference to Food and Drug Administration policy and guidance which, the court stated, “contained persuasive reasoning why Proposition 65 acrylamide warnings on whole grain cereals would mislead consumers and lead to health detriments.”
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New Phthalate Restrictions Proposed in EU
The REACH Committee of the EU Commission agreed on July 11 to advance a proposal that would restrict the presence of four phthalates (DEHP, DBP, BBP, DIBP) in products placed on the market. The proposed restriction would limit the amount
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WARNING: New Proposition 65 Amendments Go Into Effect August 30
We are seven weeks away from the California Proposition 65 amendments adopted in 2016 going into full effect, including substantial changes to the wording and format for providing warnings, new guidance on providing warnings for website purchases, and tailored warnings
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EU Chemical Inspectors to Focus on Internet Product Sales, Hexavalent Chromium
Thousands of companies that sell chemical products online should pay close attention to a new EU enforcement initiative aimed at the apparent widespread failure to disclose health and safety hazard information to consumers making website purchases. EU member state enforcement
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EPA Proposes Tanking New “SPCC” for Hazardous Substances Regulation
Reversing course from an Obama-era EPA agreement to initiate a rulemaking to impose spill prevention, countermeasure and control (SPCC) requirements for hazardous substances, EPA announced on June 19th that it believes that existing regulations are adequate to meet its obligations
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California Acts to Decaffeinate Cancer Warnings for Coffee
Responding quickly to a landmark court ruling requiring coffee sold in the state to bear a Proposition 65 warning label, California has initiated a proposed rulemaking to clarify that exposure to acrylamide and other chemicals “created by and inherent in
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