News

Shopping for cosmetics? Make sure you know what’s in the products
A recent comparative study on cosmetics highlights the importance of knowing what chemicals are in the products you are buying, particularly when shopping online.

New food packaging chemicals test reveal 8 in 10 products containing harmful chemical DEHP
New test results published last week by the Swedish Chemicals Agency revealed worrying levels of hazardous chemicals present in food packaging products: the results showed that over 80% of products tested contained DEHP, a known hormone disrupting chemical.

McDonald’s announces global PFAS ban in food packaging
Last week the international fast food chain McDonald’s announced a global ban of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in its food packaging. The company stated it would phase out PFAS in its packaging products entirely by 2025. The company also disclosed it has already eliminated the other harmful chemicals BPA and BPS in its takeaway packaging.

Banned persistent organic pollutants could be negatively affecting the fertility of male cetaceans, new study reveals
A scientific study has found that exposure to banned polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs) in the ocean could be negatively affecting the fertility of male harbour porpoises.

2020 Highlights from CHEM Trust
Happy New Year! While 2020 was a very challenging year for everyone, we wanted to highlight some of the good news on actions to protect our health and the environment from harmful chemicals.

New citizen survey on chemical safety and human biomonitoring
The European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU), a project which looks at our exposure to chemicals across Europe, is asking European citizens to fill in a survey on their perspectives on chemical safety and human biomonitoring.

Food Packaging Forum launches new chemicals database
This week researchers lead by the Food Packaging Forum launched their free database of chemicals in food contact materials (FCM).

Action demanded of UK Government on ‘Forever Chemicals’
Last week Scottish NGO Fidra launched a campaign asking the UK government to take immediate action to ban ‘Forever Chemicals’ PFAS (per- or poly-fluorinated alkyl substances) in food packaging.

New study shows that plastic baby bottles can release millions of microplastics per day
A recent study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Food, has found that plastic baby bottles can release millions of microplastics each day. Some bottles released up to 16.2 million microplastics per litre of formula.

Harmful fungicide Mancozeb to be banned in the EU
In some great news for our health, EU Member States have voted to ban Mancozeb, a fungicide that is known to be an endocrine disruptor and toxic to reproduction.