The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) is calling for reduced exposure – particularly for pregnant women and in the workplace – to three widely used chemicals recognized as reproductive toxicants: toluene, n-hexane and cis-CTAC (used as a preservative) – and two, identified as endocrine disrupting chemicals: the gasoline additive MBTE and o-phenylphenol (used in disinfectants and as a preservative). The Agency’s… …
Lowell Center for Sustainable Production examines the “precarious promise” of engineered carbon nanotubes (CNTs) Despite uncertainty about their environmental and health effects, technologies relying on CNTs have developed at warp speed, says the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production. CNTs share characteristics with ultrafine air pollution particles and asbestos fibers and are small enough to penetrate cells, yet only a tiny fraction of these materials’ R&D budgets have… …
Oil and gas companies top the European NGO, ChemSec’s latest report on companies manufacturing “substances of very high concern” – SIN (Substitute It Now) chemicals. Likely to face future bans or restrictions in the EU due to environmental and health hazards identified under REACH, the EU’s chemicals management policy, these substances may present financial risks to producers. …
We have long known that supposedly inert chemicals in plastics can break away from the finished product, exposing people and the environment to their health hazards. Flame retardants, plasticizers and monomers like Bisphenol A (BPA) are all well-known examples of chemicals that can emerge from plastics. Yet, somehow nanomaterials were assumed to be different—that once embedded in a plastic they would stay put. But the forces of nature have demonstrated otherwise. Environmental… …
This is an exciting period of material innovation, as manufacturers explore new frontiers in making chemicals and plastics from fossil fuel alternatives. With growing demand for products with environmentally friendly credentials, the chemical manufacturer SABIC plans to dip into the deep fat fryer and use cooking oil and waste fat as the feedstock for low-density and linear polyethylene – plastics used in food packaging and other flexible plastic products. The Saudi Arabia-based company… …
While the antibacterial ingredient known as triclosan continues to be used widely in soaps, toothpaste and other personal care products, Minnesota has passed a law making it the first state to ban the chemical from such items. Scientific studies have found triclosan in lake and river sediment, and raise questions about its ability to increase antibiotic resistance and potential for hormonal effects. The FDA says there’s no evidence soaps containing triclosan are more effective than those… …
Vermont is poised to join California, Maine, and Washington State with more comprehensive chemicals policy legislation. The Vermont legislature passed a bill giving the state Health Department authority to require disclosure of “chemicals of concern” used in children’s products. The legislation, while less stringent than what environmental health advocates hoped for, also establishes rule-making enabling the department to recommend specific chemical… …
Frogs exposed to PBDE flame retardants during early life developed weakened systems, a condition that could leave them vulnerable to disease, say University of Wisconsin scientists. Their study – the first of its kind – suggests that pollutants, at levels present in the environment, may be contributing to the worldwide decline of amphibian populations. These same chemicals that were used for years in upholstery foam, plastics and electronics, have also weakened immune… …
Sprint has announced it will soon begin selling iPhone cases made from a methane-based plastic known as AirCarbon™. Manufactured by Newlight Technologies, the plastic is made with methane captured from dairy farms and touted as “carbon-negative.” The technology seems to be more sustainable, but the lack of chemical ingredient disclosure leaves unanswered the questions remain as to of whether chemicals of high concern are used in… …
Chris Geiger of SF Environment digs into the method and findings of San Francisco's recent report, "Safer Products and Practices for Disinfecting Surfaces". He will provide an overview of the health and [Read the report] environmental risks of sanitizers and disinfectants as well as examples of safer alternatives. …