Monthly Archives: November 2018

On September 27, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a final fees rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The rule will allow fees obtained from chemical manufacturers to be used toward procedures for creating risk analysis for chemicals, reviewing and processing toxicity and exposure information for certain chemicals, examining Confidential Business Information, and rendering decisions about the safety of new chemicals in an expedient manner prior to their release into the marketplace. The final rule will become effective the day after it is published in the Federal Register and the fee regulations will be applicable for qualifying…

On September 18. 2018, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a revision of the draft version of the Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB) on the Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Silver Nanomaterials in a Federal Register notice. The revised draft supplants the original draft dated January 21, 2016. An online public meeting is scheduled for October 20, 2018 to gather comments related to the revised draft. The revised draft amends the recommended exposure limit for silver nanomaterials to further prevent workers who have been exposed to silver nanomaterials from developing argyria. Argyria is a condition caused…

Proposition 65 is enforced exclusively by civil lawsuits, which may be filed by a public authority or, under the law’s citizen suit provision, by any private person “in the public interest.” In general, any private person “in the “public interest” – whether an organization or individual – can initiate a Proposition 65 claim so long as the complaint is filed more than 60 days after serving a proper 60-Day Notice of Violation (NOV) on the alleged violator and appropriate authorities (e.g., the Attorney General), and no public entity with enforcement powers has started prosecuting the claim. The underlying purposes of…

Electronic cigarettes, known as e-cigarettes or e-vaporizers (referred to herein as e-vapors) are battery operated devices that allow users to inhale an aerosol that contains nicotine. The vaping market has exploded in popularity in recent years. Currently e-vapors are the most commonly used tobacco product among pre-teens and teens in America. The manufacturers of these products have become frequent targets of enforcement actions by plaintiffs asserting violations of Proposition 65’s warning requirements. E-Vapors Contain Chemicals Listed as Carcinogens and Reproductive Toxicants under Proposition 65 Enforcement actions against e-vapor manufacturers for violations of Proposition 65 have most often targeted a number…