From: Change.org

The Senate Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health is hosting a hearing entitled, “Toxic Chemicals and Children’s Enviornmental Health.” In addition to statements by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and CNN Chief Medical Correspondant Dr. Sanjay Gupta, they will also hear from Steven Marcus, a Professor of Preventative Medicine and Community Health at the New Jersey Medical School and Frederica Perara, Director of Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health.

Perara has conducted two studies that follow mothers and their children from pregnancy into childhood. Monitoring air quality and chemical exposure of women in New York, the research team found that in the Northern Manahattan cohort, phthalates, used to make plastics more flexible, were detected in 85-100 percent of air and urine samples from pregnant women. BPA, an endocrine disruptor, was found in the urine of 94 percent of pregnant women, 97 percent of 3 year olds and 100 percent of 5 year olds.

The four chemicals at the focus of her work are widely used. Phthalates are used to soften plastics and used in hairspray and perfume; BPA is used in everything from baby bottles and water bottles to receipts and canned food linings; PBDEs are a group of flame retardant chemicals applied to home furnishings, textiles and many other products. Chlorpyrifos is an organophoshate insecticide that has was phased out in home use in 2001, but is still used in agriculture.

Click on the links for more information.

From: USA Today

More than 95% of consumer products marketed as “green,” including all toys surveyed, make misleading or inaccurate claims, says a report today.

The report comes as the Federal Trade Commission is proposing stricter advertising rules. In updating its Green Guides, last revised in 1998, it warns companies not to make blanket claims such as “eco-friendly” or cite unqualified certifications (a paper towel product once claimed it “fights global warming.”)

The report finds that 30.9% of the products surveyed had fake labels, whereas 67.3% had vague claims and 70.1% made claims without proof. It notes there are many legitimate third-party green certifiers including EcoLogo, Fair Trade Certified, FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), Green Guard, Green Seal, Rainforest Alliance, UL Environment, Water Sense and USDA Organic.

To learn more about this report, please click on the above link.

From: Prop. 65 Clearinghouse Blog

OEHHA has added the chemical spirodiclofen (CAS No. 148477-71-8) to the list of chemicals known to the State to cause cancer for purposes of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65), effective October 8, 2010.

The listing of spirodiclofen is based on its formal identification by the US EPA as a chemical causes cancer.

Click on the links for more information.

Relevant Nexreg Compliance Links: CPSC compliance, OSHA MSDS authoring, MSDS authoring

From: ECHA

Over the last few months, ECHA has made available manuals and an IT tool to enable companies to prepare dossiers that can automatically be made public on the internet without revealing confidential business information. ECHA will therefore no longer communicate with companies before making information on their substance available on its website…Under the previous system ECHA used to contact registrants before publishing information from their registration dossier.

In accordance with a decision of the Executive Director, information from registration dossiers submitted from 1 December 2010 or updated after this date will be published on ECHA’s website without further communication with the registrant. Registrants are advised – before submitting their registration dossier – to use the IUCLID dissemination plugin, which enables companies to verify which information from their IUCLID dossier will be disseminated.

Information from dossiers submitted before 1 December 2010 will be automatically added to the Dissemination Portal as of 1 March 2011. In these cases also no individual communication will take place with the registrants concerned before publication. However, companies still have the possibility to use the dissemination plugin and update their dossier before this date.

Click on the links for more information.

Relevant Nexreg Compliance Links: REACH compliance, EU SDS authoring, SDS authoring

From: OSHA

OSHA is proposing to issue an interpretation of the term “feasible administrative or engineering controls” as used in the general industry and construction occupational noise exposure standards and to amend its current enforcement policy to reflect the interpretation.

The Supreme Court has held that the term “feasible” as used in the standard-setting provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act means capable of being done. The proposal aligns the interpretation of the noise standard with the Court’s holding and with OSHA’s other standards that require feasible engineering controls. The Agency intends to change its noise enforcement policy to authorize issuing citations requiring the use of administrative and engineering controls when feasible as indicated in the interpretation described in the FR notice.

Comments on the interpretation must be submitted on or before Dec. 20, 2010.

Click on the links for more information.

Relevant Nexreg Compliance Links: CPSC compliance, OSHA MSDS authoring, MSDS authoring

From: CBC News

Bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical used to make some hard plastic containers and toys, has formally been declared a toxic substance by Canadian authorities…The federal government added BPA to Canada’s toxic substances list on Wednesday.

There is no smoking gun indicating how dangerous BPA is, but the evidence is adding up, said Bruce Lanphear, a senior scientist at the child and family research institute at B.C. Children’s Hospital.

Studies in animal models are “quite concerning,” and raise questions about prostate disease, breast cancer, fertility issues and behaviour problems in children, Lanphear said.

“Health Canada considers that sufficient evidence relating to human health has been presented to justify the conclusion that bisphenol A is harmful to human life and should be added to Schedule 1 of [the Canadian Environmental Protection Act],” the federal government reported in the Canada Gazette.

Click on the links for more information.

Relevant Nexreg Compliance Links: CCCR compliance, WHMIS MSDS authoring, MSDS authoring

From: WECF

Some large European retailers such as Carrefour, Tesco and Media Markt-Saturn are not adequately protecting citizens from harmful chemicals in everyday products by failing to provide basic information they are legally obliged to under EU law. Many of these products were found to contain chemicals listed as substances of very high concern (SVHC), which are recognised to be toxic for reproduction.

REACH, which stands for Registration Evaluation Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals, is an EU wide legislation that is meant to ensure the phase out of potentially damaging chemicals. It also sets out transparency requirements to give shoppers the right to know about whether a SVHC listed on a ‘candidate list’ (a list of chemicals to be phased on in the future) are in products they might choose to buy.

However, the EEB reveals today in their report ‘The Fight to Know?’ that half of the 158 information requests sent to European retailers between April-August 2010 received no response….The legal department of Media Markt-Saturn, electronics providers with over 800 shops across Europe, simply declared that they were of the opinion that they did not have to provide such information. Bart Smits (Netherlands) refused to provide information to “third parties”, clearly breaching the “right to know”. C and A Belgium merely replied to one request via email with “?”.

Click on the links for more information.

Relevant Nexreg Compliance Links: REACH compliance, EU SDS authoring, SDS authoring

From: OEHHA

A meeting of the Proposition 65 Carcinogen Identification Committee (CIC) was held on September 21, 2010, at the California Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters Building in Sacramento, California. The Committee considered the listing of 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol (1,3-DCP) and 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) as known to the state cause cancer. The Committee also provided OEHHA with its advice concerning the relative priority of 27 chemicals for possible hazard identification material preparation.

To see a summary of this meeting or to view the slide presentations, please click on the above link.

Relevant Nexreg Compliance Links: CPSC compliance, OSHA MSDS authoring, MSDS authoring

From: Health Canada

Health Canada is warning Canadians that Brazilian Blowout Solution manufactured by Brazilian Blowout of California…which is known to be available at salons across Canada…has been found to contain unacceptable levels of formaldehyde.

Health Canada has received complaints of burning eyes, nose, and throat, breathing difficulties, and one report of hair loss associated with use of the product.

Testing conducted by Health Canada found that the Brazilian Blowout Solution contains 12% formaldehyde.  Formaldehyde is permitted in cosmetics at less than 0.2% when used as a preservative.  Formaldehyde is a known irritant, sensitizer, and is linked to cancer in humans when inhaled chronically over a long period of time.  Health Canada believes that the reactions are being caused by formaldehyde becoming aerosolized during the blow drying and flat ironing stages of the treatment.

Click on the links for more information.

Relevant Nexreg Compliance Links: CCCR compliance, WHMIS MSDS authoring, MSDS authoring

From: OEHHA

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is adding one chemical to the list of chemicals known to the State to cause cancer for purposes of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65). The chemical is spirodiclofen (CAS No. 148477-71-8). Spirodiclofen is listed effective October 8, 2010.

Spirodiclofen (CAS No. 148477-71-8) is being listed as a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer. The listing of spirodiclofen is based on its formal identification by an authoritative body (the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)), as a chemical causes cancer.

A complete, updated chemical list is published in this issue of the California Regulatory Notice Register and is available on the OEHHA website at www.oehha.ca.gov.

Click on the links for more information.

Relevant Nexreg Compliance Links: CPSC compliance, OSHA MSDS authoring, MSDS authoring