Non-food legislation – June 2021
EU: REACH and CLP
SGS reports that in May 2021 the EC published Regulation (EU) 2021/849, the 17th adaptation to technical progress (ATP-17) to the CLP Regulation. It amends Annex VI, adding 22 new entries, revising 41 entries and deleting one entry. The ATP will apply from 17 December 2022.
According to a new report (4.54 MB) by ECHA, Europe’s workers, consumers and the environment are better protected from harmful chemicals thanks to REACH and CLP. However despite progress, changes are needed to ensure they work more effectively.
PFAS and other chemicals
The EPA has announced policy changes to prevent unsafe new PFAS from entering the US market. SGS reports that the US state of Vermont has approved measures to regulate PFAS and other chemicals in certain consumer products. The Japanese government has decided to designate PFOA and/or its salts as Class I Specified Chemical Substances under the Act on the Evaluation of Chemical Substances and Regulation of Their Manufacture, Etc.
A recently published report (4.18 MB) from Chemical Watch contains a selection of articles highlighting recent regulatory developments around the world concerning PFAS.
People in the Netherlands take in too much PFAS through food and drinking water. This has been shown by recent research (in Dutch, 625 kB) by the RIVM (in Dutch). The RIVM advises the government to ensure that people come into less contact with PFAS. FPF reports that Indiana University researchers have found PFAS in 100% of the breastmilk they sampled. An article (abstract) about the research is published in Environmental Science and Technology.
FPF also reports that ETH Zurich researchers have analysed the major causes of chemical losses throughout a chemical’s life cycle and developed suggestions to stem those losses. An article (3 MB) about the research is published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering.
Tobacco
The EC has published its first report on the Tobacco Products Directive, five years after it became applicable in 2016. Thanks to the Directive, the EU has witnessed steady decreases in smoking rates and tobacco use. However, more efforts are needed. The US FDA has postponed the effective date of the required warnings for cigarette packages regulations to 13 July 2022.
Pharmaceutical matters
The EC has published Q&A on the application of the Medical Devices Regulation (MDR).
Inspections by the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (in Dutch) show that the disposal of potentially infectious waste at corona test locations in the Netherlands has improved considerably. The packaging of test materials is still not always correct.
In an article (1.48 MB) published in Environmental Chemistry Letters, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee give a review of packaging for the distribution and storage of COVID-19 vaccines.
Using recycled materials in cosmetics packaging
Fraunhofer IVV has published a new guideline (504 kB) on the use of recycled materials in cosmetics packaging.
Microplastics
An initial literature review (885 kB) by the RIVM shows that the air in homes contains low concentrations of microplastics. It is not yet known whether these low concentrations are harmful to health.
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