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OEHHA Proposes Significant Changes in Proposition 65 Lead MADL and in Rules for Evaluating Proposition 65 Exposures

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment is proposing, in pre-regulatory draft proposals, far-reaching changes in the Proposition 65 warning trigger for lead as a reproductive toxicant (the lead "Maximum Acceptable Dose Level" or "MADL") and in how exposures to Proposition 65 chemicals should be evaluated.  OEHHA will be holding two public hearings:  one on October 14, 2015 to discuss revisions to the lead MADL, and one on October 29, 2015 to discuss revisions to related regulations involving exposures to reproductive toxicants and to chemicals in foods.  If OEHHA's draft proposals ultimately are adopted, they are sure to increase litigation…

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OEHHA Lists Ethylene Glycol As A Proposition 65 Reproductive Toxicant

On June 19, 2015, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment added ethylene glycol as a reproductive toxicant under Proposition 65 pursuant to the authoritative bodies listing mechanism. OEHHA based its listing on a 2004 monograph authored by the National Toxicology Program Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (NTP-CERHR).  In that monograph, NTP-CERHR concluded that ethylene glycol causes developmental effects at high doses in rodents.  Significantly, OEHHA limited the listing to the oral ingestion route of exposure.  The warning requirement for this chemical will become effective June 19, 2016. A number of groups opposed the listing, and…

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Progress in TSCA Modernization

After years of unsuccessful attempts, Congress is getting closer to achieving modernization of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act.  On June 23, 2015, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2576 by a 398-1 vote.  In the meantime, the bipartisan Senate TSCA modernization bill, S.697, is expected to receive floor consideration next month.  If the Senate passes S.697, then a conference committee of the two chambers will work to create a unified bill, which would be sent back to the House and Senate for passage. H.R. 2576 is more narrowly targeted than the Senate bill.  But both bills have encountered resistance on…

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Controversy Over PFAS and PFOA Chemicals Continue

As both the United States and the European Union consider further restrictions on perfluroalkyl sulfonate (PFAS) chemicals and perflurooctanoic acid (PFOA) and its salts, controversy among scientists and industry continue about how best to regulate these categories of chemicals.  In "The Madrid Statement on Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs)," issued in October 2014 at the Dioxin Symposium in Madrid and published in Environmental Health Perspectives, the scientist signatories urge international co-operation among scientists, government and industry to limit the production and use of such chemicals, to develop further information about their toxicity and to develop safer, non-fluorinated alternatives.  In May 2015, FluoroCouncil,…

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EU Supports Restrictions on BPA in Thermal Paper

On June 11, 2015, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Risk Assessment Committee (RAC) published its support of a French proposal to restrict the use of bisphenol A in thermal paper, such as cashier's receipts.  The proposal would restrict the placing on the market of thermal paper containing more than 0.02% BPA by weight. The subpopulation of concern is workers, like cashiers, who handle such paper on a regular basis.  The RAC did not conclude that consumers were at risk. The RAC is expected to release its report soon.  In the meantime, ECHA's Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) will evaluate the proposed BPA…

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