The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken two separate actions on per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), both being part of its PFAS strategic roadmap, which aims to implement legislation by Q4 to reduce and destroy PFAS contamination in water, air and soil.

Under the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, the agency has laid down new standards with legally enforceable maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) on five individual PFAS. These are more stringent than previously mooted limits:

The first joint Europe-wide assessment of the drivers and impact of chemical pollution by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has concluded that, despite progress in some areas, “more work is still needed to reduce the impact of harmful substances on human health and the environment”. Key findings include:

* The transition towards safer and more sustainable chemicals is progressing in some areas but just getting started in others

CEFIC has published ‘Safe and Sustainable by-Design (SSbD): A Guidance to Unleash the Transformative Power of Innovation’. The guidance can be accessed on the association website

This is based on insights from the chemical industry and bodies such as European Commission and its Joint Research Centre, the OECD, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. It offers specific activities for different phases of industrial R&D to help the industry move towards “a sustainable, circular, and inclusive economy” by 2050.

Three speciality chemicals companies signed agreements to source more renewable electricity for key sites in February. In Europe, Evonik concluded separate long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) for solar and wind power, while Arkema signed multiple agreements covering four main sites in the US and Sasol and Air Liquide have concluded a third PPA in South Africa.

A consortium of scientists has published what it calls “a more robust way of grouping chemicals and using read-across for toxicological data to meet regulatory requirements”, based on the use of metabolomics. This could greatly reduce animal testing, they added.

ECHA has contracted a consortium led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology & Experimental Medicine (ITEM) to conduct scientific studies on the reliability and relevance of new approach methodologies (NAMs) as alternatives to animal testing and to promote their use. This will run for six years, with €4.2 million in ECHA funding.

Chris Jahn, president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), has written a letter to President Joe Biden requesting him to create an inter-agency policy committee (IPC) led by the director of the White House National Economic Council, to coordinate an economic impact analysis of regulations on the chemical industry and the broader economy.