reverse engineering everyday products + rebuilding them better

FDA does an about face on BPA

Posted: January 15th, 2010 | Author: admin | Filed under: news | Tags: , , , | Comments Off

In a shift of position, the Food and Drug Administration is expressing concerns about possible health risks from bisphenol-A, or BPA, a widely used component of plastic bottles and food packaging that it declared safe in 2008. Bisphenol-a BPA, found in Nalgene brand water bottles, is one of the most widely used synthetic chemicals in industry. The agency said Friday that it had “some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children,” and would join other federal health agencies in studying the chemical in both animals and humans.

via In Reversal, U.S. Expresses Concerned Over Additive to Plastics – NYTimes.com.

Background on Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Urgent Need for New Chemical Control Laws in the US

Posted: October 12th, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: news | Tags: , , | Comments Off

As discussed here previously, the US is taking a hard look at its 30+ year old chemical control law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Many argue that the law is outdated, both because it doesn’t require health and safety data for new chemical notifications and because the bar for regulating existing chemicals seems too high a hurdle. Around 63,000 existing chemicals were grandfathered onto the TSCA Inventory with no health and safety review, and only a handful have seen such reviews since…

via The Dake Page: Chemical Control Reform – Kids Safe Out…ChAMP In?.