Legislation proposed in California would bring fundamental changes to the state's approach to hazardous materials and for the first time would give regulators power to oversee chemicals in consumer products, according to the Sacramento Bee. The two-bill plan would be the basis of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Green Chemistry Initiative, and an American Chemistry Council lobbyist said the ACC is "encouraged by it. ... This kind of format is much more preferred than what we're dealing with in the Legislature."

The California Assembly defeated measures that would ban bisphenol A from use in bottles or cups designed for people ages 3 and younger, and another that would have restricted perfluorinated compounds from use in food packaging starting in 2010. Tim Shestek, director of state affairs for the American Chemistry Council, said the lawmakers sided with a recent FDA conclusion that BPA is safe in terms of how the public has contact with it.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will hold a public meeting in September 2008 about the safety of bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in baby bottles and many other products. While environmental groups say BPA can hurt children and animals, the FDA and European regulators, as well as the plastics industry, says the chemical is safe. The meeting is scheduled for September 16, 2008, and will welcome public input.

Retailers believe that consumers are “not too concerned” about the environment while shoppers seem apathetic to packaging or environmental drives at supermarkets, according to a new study. The statistics from the Centre for Retail Research Nottingham and commissioned by Visa found that 22.8% of customers believe clear climate change policies to be important, while in comparison 28.6% thought low prices are very important. Moreover, 24.5% of consumers felt that it is not at all important retailers shared their concerns about the environment – only 8.8% said this is very important.

Natural ingredient manufacturers are queuing up to obtain certification to prove to increasingly wary consumers that their products are the real thing. An example includes DuPont and Tate & Lyle Bio Products, a joint venture specializing in natural and renewably sourced ingredients, which recently received EcoCert certification for its products.

Claims of corporate ‘greenwashing’ within the beverage market is at an all-time high as the fledgling market for environmentally friendly beer is becoming increasingly susceptible to allegations of false advertising. A number of brewers, including SABMiller, are attempting to follow in the footsteps of soft drink makers by playing up their sustainable production efforts, particularly in Australia where major players like Foster’s are entering into a new segment for so-called ‘green beer’. However, the switch to eco-friendly practices has not been entirely smooth for manufacturers, as companies such as UK-based drink maker Innocent come under attack from environmental groups claiming some of their environmental promotions are misleading.

Nanoparticles may penetrate sun damaged skin causing concern about their increasingly widespread use in sunscreens, according to new research published in Nano Letters. Scientists at the University of Rochester found that quantum dot nanoparticles penetrated UV damaged skin more than non-compromised skin. The authors of the study are calling for further research saying that “Future in-vivo studies using custom imaging modalities and commercial sunscreen formulations are planned to generate the necessary insight to assess human health risks from applying nanoparticle sunscreens to UV-damaged skin.”