A new commentary published in Nature Sustainability reflects on the results of a new study identifying a potentially less toxic bisphenol chemical as an example of the Safe and Sustainable by Design framework for creating a generation of safer chemical alternatives.The Safe and Sustainable by Design framework, introduced by the European Commission in 2022, lays out principles for the redesign and assessment of industrial chemicals based on four considerations: hazard, worker’s exposure during production, exposure from use, and full life-cycle impacts. Using this framework, researchers identified a bisphenol chemical that does not have estrogenic properties, unlike toxic BPA. This new bisphenol also shows potential for high technical performance and is created from renewable materials.
“Importantly, this work signals a growing interest among chemists… to find safe substitutes for endocrine-disrupting commercial chemicals to enhance the welfare of the ecosphere and the sustainability of our civilization.”
Existing bisphenol chemicals — including BPA and its common substitutes BPS and BPF — have well-established negative health consequences, particularly to metabolism and reproduction. While some countries have limited the use of BPA, the use of other estrogenic bisphenols has continued to increase, undermining regulations’ protective potential. This commentary emphasizes how critical it is that health and environmental impacts be prioritized as key considerations in the creation of new chemicals alongside economic potential and technical performance.
ECHA has launched a new online tool for industry to notify its plans to update the EU Positive Lists of substances that are approved for use in materials that come into contact with drinking water.Helsinki, 5 January 2026 – By using the ECHA Industry Portal companies can indicate those substances that they wish to keep, add or remove from the European Positive Lists. The notifications under the Drinking Water Directive are prepared in the IUCLID format.
To help the notifiers prepare their notifications of intentions in IUCLID, ECHA has published:
- a manual on “How to prepare a Drinking Water Directive Notification of intention”;
- a guidance document dedicated to notifications of intention (DWD Guidance Volume IV); and
- a video tutorial on the generation of the notification of intention IUCLID dossier.
ECHA invites all impacted parties to familiarize themselves with the manual, guidance and tutorial before preparing their notifications.
After a notification of intention has been submitted, notifiers have 12 months to submit their application. From January 2027, notifiers can start submitting their applications to amend the European Positive Lists.
EU’s Drinking Water Directive (DWD) aims to protect people and the environment from the harmful effects of contaminated drinking water and to improve access to drinking water. ECHA's mandate under the DWD covers the implementation of the framework for minimum hygiene requirements for materials that are in contact with drinking water.
DWD requires that starting substances, compositions or constituents used in manufacturing materials that come into contact with drinking water, from the water source to the tap, are listed in one of four European Positive Lists.
Additions, renewals and removals of starting substances, compositions or constituents in the European Positive Lists require an application to be submitted to ECHA. A mandatory step before application is the submission of a notification of economic operators’ and authorities’ intention to apply. The notification process is designed to encourage potential applicants to group their efforts by preparing a single application, inform stakeholders of which substances will be applied for, and help ECHA plan ahead and manage the application process more efficiently.
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety (PHMSA) Administrator Paul Roberti announced the largest civil penalty ever proposed in a pipeline safety enforcement action. The enforcement action, brought against Panther Operating Company, LLC, includes a $9,622,054 proposed civil penalty for alleged violations that occurred in connection with a November 2023 failure of the Main Pass Oil Gathering (MPOG) pipeline system. The failure released 1.1 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of America.“Safety drives everything we do,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “We are sending a clear signal: when companies fail to abide by the rules, we won’t hesitate to act decisively. We’ll continue to enforce the law to ensure the safety and efficiency of our energy infrastructure.”
PHMSA’s investigation identified multiple probable violations of its hazardous liquid pipeline safety regulations related to integrity management and operations and maintenance requirements, including those specific to leak detection, emergency response, and the protection of high consequence areas. Details of each probable violation can be found in the Notice of Probable Violation PHMSA issued to Panther last week.
“PHMSA’s focus on safety and holding operators accountable when they fail to comply with federal safety regulations will never change,” said PHMSA Administrator Paul Roberti. “It is important for pipeline operators to remain vigilant in their operations to prevent these types of failures or there will be serious consequences.”
The enforcement action also includes a proposed compliance order that would require the company to take certain actions to ensure compliance with federal pipeline safety regulations. As part of the order, Panther will be required to evaluate and develop a plan that works to protect the MPOG pipeline system against future unanticipated external loads caused by geotechnical and geological hazards.
Panther has 30 days to respond to PHMSA.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes a $15,744,352.50 civil penalty against Aery Aviation LLC of Newport News, Virginia, for unsafe operations using unairworthy aircraft.The FAA alleges Aery installed equipment on various Learjets for banner- and target-tow operations without performing the required maintenance or maintaining the required documentation. The equipment installation required the aircraft to be placed in a restricted category under which they could not be flown over densely populated areas, in congested airways, or near airports that serve passengers without an FAA waiver. Additionally, Aery was required to document that maintenance personnel had approved the aircraft for return to service following the installations and placement into the restricted category.
The FAA alleges Aery failed to obtain restricted-category airworthiness certificates for the aircraft and operated them on 431 flights between July 2021 and April 2022 without the required airworthiness certificates. During that time, Aery also operated 945 flights with target-tow and/or electronic-warfare equipment installed despite not having obtained a waiver from the FAA for that type of operation.
Most of the flights took place near the Newport-News Williamsburg Airport (PHF) Class D airspace. PHF has extensive passenger operations, and the airspace is congested.
Aery’s operations using unairworthy aircraft were careless or reckless so as to endanger lives or property of others, the FAA alleges.
Aery has 30 days after receiving the FAA’s enforcement letter to respond to the agency.
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) takes on new responsibilities under the EU’s One Substance, One Assessment (OSOA) package. Working closely with other EU agencies and authorities, ECHA will lead efforts to build a common data platform on chemicals, streamline assessments, and strengthen collaboration to better protect human health and the environment.
The Agency is committed to driving this initiative forward and will deliver its new responsibilities with transparency and efficiency.
Dr Sharon McGuinness, ECHA’s Executive Director said:
"The OSOA package represents a significant step towards a more efficient chemical safety system in Europe. By joining forces with our partner agencies and authorities, we will create a system that anticipates risks, and brings together existing knowledge, and supports innovation.
“Our shared goal is clear: a safer, more sustainable Europe through collaboration and science-based action.’’
Under this legislation, ECHA is entrusted with significant new tasks, reinforcing its role in delivering coherent, predictable, and transparent chemical assessments. These changes will enhance efficiency and improve consistency across EU chemical legislation.
The OSOA package also introduces the Regulation on common data platform and monitoring and outlook framework for chemicals.
ECHA will manage this platform in close collaboration with other EU bodies – including the European Environment Agency (EEA), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), European Medicines Agency (EMA), and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) under the governance scheme and implementation plan adopted by the European Commission.
The platform will integrate information from multiple sources and provide services such as:
- Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring;
- Repository of reference values;
- Study notifications database; and
- Databases on standard formats and controlled vocabularies, regulatory processes, legal obligations, chemicals in articles or products, alternatives to substances of concern, and environmental sustainability-related data
This will create a one-stop-shop for chemicals data, improving transparency and accessibility for regulators, industry, and the public.
Beyond the data platform, ECHA will:
- Develop a monitoring and outlook framework;
- Support early warning and risk identification;
- Generate new data when needed; and
- Promote the use of scientific research to strengthen chemical safety.
ECHA will also take on scientific and regulatory responsibilities previously managed by other bodies, including:
- Preparing restriction proposals under the RoHS Directive (hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment), and processing exemption requests;
- Setting and reviewing limit values for persistent organic pollutants in waste under the POPs Regulation; and
- Updating guidelines on how to perform the benefit-risk assessment of the presence of certain hazardous substances in medical devices under the Medical Devices Regulation.
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