...Faced with the embarrassing issue of exported toothpastes containing poisonous chemicals, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) has made many conflicting statements in the last few days.... more...

...Experiments on genetically modified mice have pushed the number of animals used in scientific research through the 3m mark for the first time since 1991. . . . A further impetus to animal testing will come from the European Union’s new Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (Reach) legislation, which will require the chemicals industry to test thousands of compounds for safety. Reach did not come into effect in time to affect the 2006 figures, Mr Richmond said... more...

...Book synopsis: Full text of REACH Directive - from the Official Journal of the European Union L 136, 29.05.2007. In order to introduce a chemical substance on the European Union market, a manufacturer or importer must demonstrate its safe use.... more...

...Thousands of chemicals should be re-assessed for possible toxicity to human and environmental health, according to a new study. Scientists found that conventional tests underestimate how some substances accumulate along the food chain. These include some pesticides, and possibly some pharmaceuticals.... more...

... MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - Russia will be 'forced' to apply EU safety standards in the chemical industry, which will cost Russian companies up to 10 percent of their export earnings, Russian officials said. The Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), a European Union regulation which greatly tightens standards for the chemical industry, came into force this year.... more...

...A new study has revealed that there may be a whole new class of potentially hazardous chemicals being consumed by humans on a daily basis. The Canadian research found that regulators, that test food for a build up of chemicals, may have been missing an entire class of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).... more...

...The UK’s Health and Executive website, which is part of the government's Health and Safety Commission, has launched a website devoted to the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals directive known as REACH.... more...

...2007 is an important year for any company that makes, uses, buys or sells chemicals or prod-ucts containing chemicals. On June 1, the European Union’s Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances (REACH) came into force.... more...

...The challenge of balancing the social and economic impacts of chemical controls and regulations will be the subject of a two-day meeting next month in Baltimore. "Action and reaction: Developing a sustainable approach to emerging chemical issues," sponsored by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), will bring together representatives from industry, government, the scientific and technical communities, and other affected groups on August 9-10, to discuss recent developments in chemicals regulation and the impacts on chemical security, waste management, energy efficiencies, and other environmental and production issues.... more...

...Papros Inc. has now expanded the features of Materials Reporting Planner MRPRO to enable standards based compliance tracking for companies possibly subject to the EU REACH. The latest features allow easy quantification of listed substances in products or mixtures, aggregation of shipped quantities and tracking of all information related to the substances and all mixtures of substances sold or shipped as parts or products, or if needed, for calculation of amounts of manufacture, process or other use.... more...

...A free Design Chain Associates Webinar on REACH, Introduction and Update for North American manufacturers, will take place July 13, at 2 pm EDT.... more...

...Ageus Solutions is pleased to release the preliminary agenda for the International Symposium on Environmental Standards for Electronics 2007 (ISESE'07- www.isese07.com) being held at the Ottawa Congress Centre on October 10th and 11th in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.... more...

...An online resource giving businesses and staff information on the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (Reach) framework has been is now highlighted on the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE's) website.... more...

...New and important EU legislation that came into force on the June 1, 2007, puts the onus on agricultural businesses and farmers to show that the chemicals they use are safe and not a risk to human health or the environment. The new legislation, known as REACH, which stands for European Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals Regulation, is intended to balance the protection of human health and the environment from the risk of chemicals, with enhancing the competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry, explains Walaiti Rathore, solicitor at Nottingham law firm Berryman.... more...