Hong Kong Update: Toy Association monitors protests ahead of 2020
November 19, 2019, Toy Association
January travel to Hong Kong has long served as the kick-off to the toy community year. With protests and tensions rising in the city however, many Toy Association members have expressed growing concerns and conflicting views about how this may impact business travel heading into 2020 and beyond. Recognizing member concerns, The Toy Association is meeting with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) this week to discuss the upcoming trade show, travel to member showrooms, and what steps the HKTDC is taking to ensure safe passage for international visitors.
China’s vaping boom alarms the government
November 21, 2019, New York Times
For years, Chinese e-cigarette makers had free rein to operate without regard to consumer safety. But new rules are set to change that. China has joined the United States and other governments in putting new pressure on vaping. Regulators have banned online sales of vaping products, and China’s major propaganda outlets have heaped on scrutiny, citing the potential health effects. The government is considering banning vaping in public places.
Researchers work to make cleaning products safer
November 21, 2019, necn.com-NBC
In a lab in Lowell, Massachusetts, there is a belief in a better way to clean without using potentially dangerous chemicals.”There is still a perception that the stronger it smells, the better it works, the stronger the bleach, the more it will kill the germs,” Liz Harriman, deputy director of UMass Lowell’s Toxics Use Reduction Institute, said Thursday.The work done in TURI’s labs taking on renewed urgency in recent weeks after two chemical reaction incidents in the Boston area.
Washington State bans vitamin e acetate in vaping products
November 19, 2019, KUOW.org
In a new regulation starting November 20, Washington state is expanding its ban on certain vaping products. Health officials have not been able to determine what it is about vaping products that has caused hundreds of cases of severe lung disease in the nation. But this month, the Centers for Disease Control found that vitamin E acetate was present in all of the 29 patients they reviewed.
Activists including actor Mark Ruffalo help launch awareness campaign on PFAS chemicals
November 21, 2019, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Health advocates fearful of a family of chemicals widely used by companies, including 3M, launched a public-awareness effort Tuesday to coincide with the Friday release of a movie slamming corporate coverups of their dangers.The Fight Forever Chemicals campaign used the upcoming release of “Dark Waters,” a feature film about health risks of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), to urge people to pay attention to a largely ignored public health issue.
Time to embrace sustainability in the fashion industry
November 18, 2019, Singapore Business Review
Greenhouse gas emissions from the apparel industry is expected to increase to 49% in the next decade.
The US$2.5t fashion and apparel industry is one of the largest industries in the world and shows no sign of slowing down. With populations in Southeast Asia getting more affluent, demand for fast fashion is expected to balloon. To keep up with demand, fashion brands are producing more and more, faster and faster.
NTSB calls on Boeing to redesign some 737s after deadly Southwest accident
November 19, 2019, CNBC
Boeing on said it plans to revamp parts for thousands of 737s after federal safety officials investigating last year’s deadly engine blast on Southwest Airlines flight called for a redesign that would better withstand engine failures in flight. The NTSB recommendations don’t relate to Boeing’s beleaguered 737 Max, a newer version of the plane that has been grounded since mid-March in the wake of two fatal crashes in a span of five months, but the recommendations are adding to scrutiny of the aerospace giant’s planes. Dozens of 737 NGs have been grounded recently after inspectors found cracks in so-called pickle forks, which connect wings to fuselages.
New ACI guidance provides pathways for stewardship of enzyme-containing consumer products
November 20, 2019, American Cleaning Institute
Enzymes bring significant benefits to laundry and cleaning products, including improved cleaning efficiencies. An updated publication from the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) provides a framework for consumer product manufacturers to develop appropriate risk management strategies to avoid unacceptable risks to the users of new products containing enzymes. Guidance for the Risk Assessment of Enzyme-Containing Consumer Products is now available for free on the ACI website, cleaninginstitute.org.
Wrap-up of federal and state chemical regulatory developments
November 19, 2019, JD Supra
EPA Will Provide Minimum 30-Day Public Comment Period On Draft Risk Evaluations: The Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) announced that EPA will provide more time for public comment on its draft risk evaluations before the TSCA Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) meets to peer review the draft documents. According to an EPA official, the new schedule will include a comment period of at least 30 days before SACC meets. EPA plans to complete ten chemical risk evaluations by June 22, 2020.
Report reveals top retailers making major chemical safety advances
November 21, 2019, wamc.org
A new report finds many of North America’s largest retail companies are embracing chemical safety policies to help protect consumers from toxic chemicals in products. The fourth annual “Who’s Minding the Store? A Report Card on Retailer Actions to Eliminate Toxic Chemicals” evaluated and graded the chemical policies and practices of 43 retail chains with more than 190,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada.
It’s part of Safer Chemicals Healthy Families’ Mind the Store campaign.
Business Wire: Colgate Palmolive ships world’s first tube recognized as recyclable
November 20, 2019, Tullahoma News, TN
Colgate-Palmolive’s new recyclable tube is made from the same plastic used to make bottles, so it recycles like a bottle, and squeezes easy like a tube.Last week, Colgate delivered to retailers the first tube recognized by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) — Antiplaque & Whitening toothpaste under the Company’s Tom’s of Maine brand. Tom’s will complete the switch in 2020, and by 2025 the company will complete needed modifications to tube-making equipment at more than a dozen of its facilities around the world. Now, Colgate is sharing its innovative technology with competitors as part of its campaign to transform one of the most widely used forms of plastic packaging that until now could not be recycled.
