Category: Issue 348
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EPA’s New “Nanomaterials” Definition to Affect Pesticide Registrations
With a new working definition of “nanomaterials,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is apparently poised to launch new regulatory policies including those addressing the registration of pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The definition, revealed during a PowerPoint® presentation at an April 29, 2010, Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee meeting, is as follows:…
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House Bill Would Regulate How Web Publishers Collect and Use Personal Data
Representative Rick Boucher (D-Va.) has released a draft bill that would address online privacy by regulating how web publishers and advertisers can collect and use personal information, such as name, address, Social Security number, and bank accounts, as well as implicit information, such as “click-stream.” While advertisers do not apparently dispute provisions that protect traditional…
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House and Senate Lawmakers Introduce Obesity-Related Legislation
Bipartisan House sponsors of a bill (H.R. 5209) that would establish a comprehensive national approach to addressing obesity in the United States held a press conference to unveil the measure on May 5, 2010. Appearing with Representatives Ron Kind (D-Wis.), Mary Bono Mack (R-Cal.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), and Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) to introduce the Healthy Communities…
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House Subcommittee Considers Food Safety Reports
The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on May 6, 2010, to consider food safety reports prepared by the Government and Accountability Office (GAO) and the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Both the GAO report and testimony from an Inspector General…
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Cancer Panel Report Says Environmental Chemicals Causing “Grievous Harm”
Described by the media as “landmark” and “extraordinary,” the President’s Cancer Panel newly issued 2008-2009 Annual Report claims that the National Cancer Program has not adequately addressed the “true burden of environmentally induced cancer.” According to the panel’s transmittal letter, some 80,000 chemicals are on the market in the United States, and Americans are exposed…