From the Environmental Protection Agency:

As part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s commitment to strengthen and reform chemical management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a series of actions on four chemicals raising serious health or environmental concerns, including phthalates. For the first time, EPA intends to establish a “Chemicals of Concern” list and is beginning a process that may lead to regulations requiring significant risk reduction measures to protect human health and the environment. The agency’s actions represent its determination to use its authority under the existing Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to the fullest extent possible, recognizing EPA’s strong belief that the 1976 law is both outdated and in need of reform.

In addition to phthalates, the chemicals EPA is addressing today are short-chain chlorinated paraffins, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and perfluorinated chemicals, including PFOA. These chemicals are used in the manufacture of a wide array of products and have raised a range of health and environmental concerns.

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From The Dake Page:

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki, Finland, is working hard to get prepared for the expected onslaught of registration dossiers that will be submitted in 2010. ECHA is putting some contingency plans into place as the first deadline for registrations – for high volume and high hazard chemicals – comes due on November 30, 2010.

…Companies have been working hard for the last 2 years trying to get organized and coordinate with other companies that manufacture or import the same chemicals into Europe.

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From euobserver.com:

On Tuesday (22 december), environment ministers from across the bloc ordered the European Commission to take action on the matter and investigate where current legislation is lacking and to plug the holes.

The EU, like most other powers, focuses on the benefits and dangers of chemicals on a “chemical-by-chemical” basis. That is, regulators look at the effects of each individual chemical. Only recently have scientists begun to be concerned about the combination effects of chemicals that otherwise appear safe in isolation but when absorbed together – in a “chemical cocktail” – could have unexpected and dangerous consequences.

The ministers tasked the commission with producing a recommendation in 2010 on how exposure to combinations of endocrine disruptors should be dealt with in existing legislation and then to evaluate in 2011 if any new laws are needed.

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From The Dake Page:

As TSCA reform becomes more and more inevitable, chemical industry trade associations are increasing looking to negotiate with environmental and health advocacy groups. The goal is to seek agreement on key issues prior to the release of the bill that is expected out of Congress in the next few months (or even weeks)…

Mike Walls of [the American Chemistry Council (ACC)] said that while there is general agreement on the need for TSCA reform and the overall principles, there are still many issues in the details that need to be resolved. And this time leading up to introduction of the bill is when it is important to “engage in stakeholder dialogue.” ACC would like to be able to come to agreement on major provisions of the bill before it is introduced.

Environmental groups appear to have a different view. They look to the bill as a starting point for negotiations…

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From Healthy Child Health World:

Recently, Governor Schwarzenegger announced a partnership between the State of California and Denmark to cooperate in the construction of a new public endeavor to protect consumers against harmful chemical exposure.

California is currently developing a program under last year’s landmark Green Chemistry Initiative (in September, 2008) with the lofty yet vital objective of changing the way our society manufactures, produces, and uses industrial chemicals for commerce. The overarching goal is not simply to discourage the use of hazardous chemicals and avoid the toxic waste they produce, but to reinvent the proverbial wheel.

The program would also address the thousands upon thousands of industrial chemicals that were grandfathered into the current (and very broken) chemical regulatory system in 1976, called the Toxic Substances Control Act.

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From Southwest Missouri Safety Company:

OSHA is preparing to release changes to existing standards and new standards related to several subjects that they have been analyzing for the last few years.  I would expect that each one of these new regulations will be part of their emphasis programs next year depending upon release.  Below is a brief review of each area that OSHA will be releasing new standards for with a brief description of what will be addressed.

Crystalline Silica
*  Inhalation of respirable silica dust can cause lung disease, silicosis and lung cancer. Exposure to airborne silica dust occurs in operations involving cutting, sawing, drilling and crushing of concrete, brick, block and other stone products, and in operations using sand products…

Combustible Dust
*  Combustible dust can cause catastrophic explosions like the 2008 disaster at the Imperial Sugar refinery that killed 14 workers and seriously injured dozens more. Deadly combustible dust fires and explosions can be caused by a wide array of materials and processes in a large number of industries. Materials that may form combustible dust include wood, coal, plastics, spice, starch, flour, feed, grain, fertilizer, tobacco, paper, soap, rubber, drugs, dyes, certain textiles, and metals…

Hazard Communication Standard – Global Harmonization System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals
*  OSHA and other U.S. agencies have been involved in a long-term project to negotiate a globally harmonized approach to informing workers about chemical hazards. The result is the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). OSHA is revising its Hazard Communication Standard to make it consistent with the GHS…

For the full list of proposed areas and changes see the link above.

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Effective December 18, 2009, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency is adding the chemicals identified below to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity, for the purposes of Proposition 65.

*  Wood dust and zidovudine (AZT) are being added to the list as known to the state to cause cancer.  Tert-Amyl methyl ether (TAME) and ethyl-tert-butyl ether (EBTE) are being added as known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity.

More information on the chemicals can be found here: http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/121809list.html

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From Public Radio International:

In response to the lead tainted toy scare a few years back, Congress passed legislation that set safety standards for all goods used by children under twelve, including toys. The new regulations go into effect in February and many large toy companies say they are already testing the safety of their products. But small, independent toy makers say the cost of complying with the new rules will put them out of business.

William John Woods has been building wooden toys in Ogunquit, Maine, for 35 years. He makes wheeled vehicles and wooden baby rattles, and his products are finished with food-grade walnut oil and bee’s wax. He sells about 2,000 of the toys a year.

The new regulations would require that Woods test all the products he makes. “I would have to prove that what I’m using has no lead in it,” said Woods. “The total process would be about $300 or $400 dollars per toy. And even though they’re all the same shape, each size and color is considered a different product, according to the new law.”

Woods and other small toy makers have formed the Handmade Toy Alliance to lobby for an exemption to the new regulations…

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From the Toronto Star – Liberal senators vote to change product safety bill:

The federal health minister is “outraged” that Liberal senators were able to get their way in changing a bill that would overhaul consumer product safety legislation in Canada.

“I am outraged the Senate has amended our Consumer Product Safety Act. Liberal Senators are putting the health and safety of Canadian families at risk,” Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said in a statement following the vote Tuesday. “The Liberal Senators’ amendments do nothing to help protect the health and safety of Canadians. Instead, they’re attempting to introduce loopholes, administrative delays and an uneven playing field for industry, (which) has significantly limited our ability to prevent home-based businesses from putting dangerous products on the marketplace.”

The bill cleared the House of Commons with unanimous support in June and MPs could vote to reject the amendments when the bill returns there early next year.

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From the National Post – Senate votes to weaken product safety bill:

Invoking concerns about a police state coming to Canada, the Liberal-dominated Senate voted Tuesday to weaken the government’s product safety bill — delaying the effort to update the country’s 40-year-old consumer-protection law until next year.

The dramatic development was part of a last-ditch manoeuvre by Liberal senators to curtail the power of Health Canada inspectors to conduct random safety checks at home-based offices and facilitate toy companies and other distributors of consumer goods to avoid fines for violating Canada’s safety standards. The amendments also limit Health Canada’s ability to share incident reports with international partners as part of joint safety investigations.

The amendments by senators George Furey and Tommy Banks, introduced at third reading, were approved after several Liberals spoke about the threat to civil liberties if the government’s consumer protection bill becomes law.

The amendments prevent government inspectors from conducting spot checks in home offices as part of a safety investigation without first obtaining a warrant from a judge…Another newly approved Liberal amendment proposed by Banks allows businesses to use these arguments to fight a fine.

Instead of becoming law, the amended bill will now be sent back to the House of Commons for consideration…If the tussle between the two chambers drags out, and a federal election is called or Parliament is prorogued in the interim, the bill will die.

Read the above link for more information.

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