EPA has issued its second round of Test Orders under its National PFAS Testing Strategy. The test orders require companies to conduct and submit testing on trifluoro (trifluoromethyl) oxirane (HFPO) (CASRN 428-59-1), a PFAS substance used in making plastics. According to EPA’s Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) database, more than 1,000,000 points of HFPO are manufactured […]
In December, EPA published the IRIS Toxicological Review of Perfluorobutanoic Acid and Related Salts. The Agency’s assessment addresses potential cancer and noncancer human health effects of exposure to perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) and its related salts. The most significant of the IRIS findings is that sufficient oral exposure to PFBA likely causes disruptions to normal thyroid […]
EPA recently withdrew its 2020 Interim Approval of glyphosate, often referred to by its trade name Roundup. Interim approvals are part of a conditional registration process used by the Agency to allow new active ingredients to enter the market for an unspecified period of time while the registrant generates missing data required by the Agency […]
In December 2022, EPA announced updates to its New Chemicals Review Program website to include additional information and metrics on the Agency’s review of new chemicals and significant new uses. In the announcement, the Agency stressed its commitment to increasing efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency through the chemical review process. To progress in this goal, the […]
A class action suit was recently brought against Danone Waters of America Inc. The company sells bottled water worldwide under various brand names, including Aqua, Bonafont, and Evian. The lawsuit is specific to its Evian-branded water, which petitioners allege is deceptively and factually inaccurately marketed as “carbon neutral,” a practice referred to as “greenwashing.” The […]
The Center for Food Safety and other non-profit organizations dedicated to environmental advocacy brought suit against the EPA, claiming that the Agency fails to assess the full environmental and health impacts of pesticides in its approval process. Current EPA regulations require pesticide producers to submit toxicity data on active ingredients as part of the registration […]
On November 25, 2022, EPA released an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) for public comment as part of its development of a rule to collect information about PFAS. The IRFA follows the Agency’s June 2021 proposed rule, which would require all manufacturers and importers of PFAS in any year since 2011 to report information related […]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a request for public comment on updating its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (“Green Guides”), which provides guidelines for businesses that want to use environmental marketing claims in their advertising and labeling. The Green Guides aim to help businesses avoid making deceptive or misleading environmental. This […]
EPA recently released a white paper, The New Chemicals Collaborative Research Program: Modernizing the Process and Bringing Innovative Science to Evaluate New Chemicals Under TSCA. The document was produced as a summary report to the Board of Scientific Counselors as an integrative research plan under the 2023-2026 Chemical Safety for Sustainability (CSS) Strategic Research Action […]
On October 13, 2022, Earthjustice, on behalf of numerous environmental organizations and community advocates throughout the country, filed a petition with EPA requesting that the Agency revoke the approval of approximately 600 PFAS Low Volume Exemptions (LVEs) and Low-Exposure Exemptions (LoREXs) to the TSCA Premanufacture Notice (PMN) requirement. The petition argues that EPA has a […]
