Performance Chemistries Weekly Roundup – 4.8.21

Phthalates:

• According to Forbes, a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism claimed that exposure to phthalates and bisphenols, such as BPA, could contribute to postpartum depression in pregnant mothers.
• New research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests that maternal exposure to phthalates can alter cognitive outcomes in infants, primarily resulting in slower information processing. The study is part of the Illinois Kids Development Study (IKIDS), which aims to track the effects of chemicals on children’s physical and behavioral development from birth to middle childhood. According to American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) news release service, IKIDS is part of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program.

Trichloroethylene (TCE):

• A new opinion piece in The Guardian explored recent claims that TCE exposure has contributed to a 35 percent uptick in Parkinson’s disease cases in the U.S. over the last 10 years. A neurologist cited in the piece predicts, “We think over the next 25 years, it [Parkinson’s disease case numbers] will double again.”

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)::

• According to E&E News and Inside EPA, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) announced the “PFAS Accountability Act” on Monday, April 5, elevating congressional efforts to address PFAS issues. The bill focuses on “improving legal pathways” through which individuals exposed to PFAS can be awarded medical monitoring, in addition to encouraging funding for additional PFAS research. The legislation would also establish a federal cause of action allowing “victims of significant PFAS exposure to bring claims against manufacturers of PFAS.”
• According to Inside EPA, California lawmakers are advancing two bills that would: ban the sale of new “juvenile” products containing intentionally-added PFAS (AB 652); prohibit the sale of “plant-based” food packaging containing intentionally-added PFAS; require cookware manufacturers to label products if it contains a chemical on certain lists; and prohibit manufacturers from “making a claim that cookware is free of a chemical if the chemical belongs to a chemical group or class” (AB 1200). Inside EPA notes that the bills bypass the state’s Safer Consumer Products (SCP) green chemistry program that was intended, in part, to discourage lawmakers from pursuing “one-off” chemical-related ban bills in favor of adhering to a more scientifically rigorous vetting process.

Formaldehyde:

• Following the FDA’s consumer update on “what you should know” regarding the use of formaldehyde in hair smoothing or straightening products, such as keratin treatments, attorneys at King & Spalding wrote in a JD Supra piece that “this heightened public awareness and scrutiny by FDA of hair smoothing/straightening products may signal increased litigation risks for product manufacturers.”