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Top Story
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MEP vote is 'progress' towards making medical devices safer
The decision by Members of European Parliament to phase out hazardous chemicals in medical devices on the 22nd October is a welcome but long overdue development. MEPs voted favourably for the proposed medical device regulation that among other issues stipulates a phase out of substances used in medical devices that are carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) and endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The amendments introduced by the parliament push for manufacturers to substitute these substances with existing available alternatives. For more information about the medical device regulation, click here. |
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Member Updates
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HCWH Europe welcomes two new members
HCWH Europe is pleased to welcome two new members to our network - CARTIF Foundation and Recyclomed. Our membership has now expanded to 73 members. The CARTIF Foundation is a leading Spanish applied research centre, whose main goals are to identify technology needs, develop R&D-based knowledge, support technological innovation in the industry, mainly among SMEs, and to disseminate R&D and innovation results. Recyclomed is a Hungarian non-profit organisation that focuses on pharmaceuticals and waste management issues as they are the coordinators of collecting the human pharmaceutical waste from the citizens in Hungary. |
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Chemicals
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ECHA publishes new fact sheet covering the follow-up to dossier evaluation decisions
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has released a new fact sheet explaining the follow-up to dossier evaluation decisions in which ECHA will assess whether registrants provided the requested information within the deadline set via an update of the registration dossier and added new information. With these as final elements of the dossier evaluation process, ECHA will notify the Member State Competent Authorities and the European Commission about the information obtained and any conclusions made. The Member States may use the new information for substance evaluation, restriction, authorisation or harmonised classification and labelling. To access the fact sheet, please click here (more). |
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TEDX updates their list Endocrine disruptors
The TEDX List of Potential Endocrine Disruptors has recently updated their database of chemicals with the potential to affect the endocrine system. There are nearly 1,000 endocrine disruptors on the TEDX List. Chemicals can be searched by full or partial chemical name, by CAS1 number, or by categories derived from the uses and sources of the chemicals (more). |
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The Biocidal Products Committee agrees on new working procedures
As a result of the third Biocidal Products Committee (BPC) meeting on 9th - 10th October 2013, the Committee has agreed upon the working procedures for active substance approval, Union authorisation and for giving opinions on scientific and technical matters in relation to mutual recognition. There was also a consensus that accredited stakeholder organisations, five of which have already been invited to future meetings, and applicants could participate in the Committee’s plenary and working group meetings. From the 11th-13th February 2014, the BPC will discuss the first dossiers in its next meeting (more). |
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Publications
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Report shows air pollution is still affecting 90% of Europeans living in urban areas
The European Environment Agency (EEA) released a new report on 15th October 2013 on air pollution in Europe with an overview and analysis of air quality in Europe from 2002 to 2011. The report reviews progress towards meeting requirements of the air quality directives (2008/50/EC and 2004/107/ EC) and gives an overview of policies and measures introduced
at the European level to improve air quality and minimise air pollution impacts on public health and ecosystems. An overview of the latest findings and estimates of the effects of air pollution on health and its impacts on ecosystems is also given (more). |
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Phthalate Levels in Nursery Schools and Related Factors
In this study, scientists evaluated phthalate ester concentrations in dust samples from 64 classrooms located in 50 nursery schools and explored the critical factors affecting phthalate concentrations, especially with regard to building materials. Dust was sampled by a modified vacuuming method, and building materials were assessed using a portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer to determine whether they contained polyvinyl chloride (more). |
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Social Campaigns
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Support Breast Cancer UK Manifesto
Breast Cancer UK (BCUK) launched this month their new Manifesto ‘Prevention is better than cure: 5 pledges for 2015 and beyond towards the prevention of breast cancer’ calling on the UK Government ‘to stop breast cancer before it starts’. In England, breast cancer incidence rates amongst women have increased by 90% since 1971 with younger women under 50 years-old also being highly affected. BCUK is calling for the prioritisation of the primary prevention of breast cancer, the regulation of chemicals to be improved based on the precautionary principle, to protect the unborn child from the harmful effects of chemical exposure, to ban the use of bisphenol A in food and drinks packaging and to improve the labelling and the ‘right to know’ about harmful chemicals (more). |
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Open Calls
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ECHA calls for information on possible alternatives to the flame retardant DecaBDE
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has launched this month a new call for evidence to identify the challenges to substitute Decabromodiphenylether (DecaBDE). The call is part of the preparation of an Annex XV restriction dossier requested by the European Commission, which will be submitted by 1st August 2014. The new information provided will be used to assess the feasibility of alternatives to DecaBDE. ECHA specifies that those affected by this possible restriction or who hold relevant information to give comments before 15th December 2013 by filling in an online questionnaire available on the ECHA website. DecaBDE is mainly used in plastics/polymers/composite materials and by the textile industry (more). |
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Public consultation on the Preliminary Opinion on The safety of Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) Silicone Breast Implants
The European Commission and its non-food Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks, SCENIHR, launched a consultation on the preliminary Opinion on the safety of Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) Silicone Breast Implants (2013 update). The consultation will run until 13 December 2013. Interested parties are invited to provide comments on the scientific evidence online (more). |
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| Events |
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A cure for bias in chemicals policy
Date: 5th November 2013 - Brussels, Belgium
MEP Corinne Lepage (Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) will be hosting a lunch meeting in the European Parliament on 5th November to launch the new Policy from Science Project report entitled “A cure for bias in chemicals policy. The event will address how EU processes for assessing evidence can be made more scientifically robust, using European Food Safety Authority’s Expert Opinions on BPA as illustrative case-studies. The meeting also aims to compare best practice in medicine for the evaluation and communication of evidence with current practices in the risk assessment of chemicals. It is possible to reserve places by contacting Corrine Lepage (more). |
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The Global Climate & Health Summit 2013
Date: 16 November 2013 - Warsaw, Poland
The Climate and Health Summit 2013 will coordinate action across all sectors to protect human health from the impacts of climate change. Drawing on the 2011 Durban Health Sector Call to Action the Summit will build a road-map for the international health community to work towards in the run up to the 2015 climate negotiations in Paris. (more). |
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Notice: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for research and educational purposes. As all these articles are public, some links might expire after some days after their release date. |
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