School Uniforms Carry High Levels Of Dangerous PFAS Chemicals
September 21, 2022, Consumer Reports
Children’s school uniforms are loaded with potentially dangerous PFAS chemicals, according to a study published today in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The study found that the chemicals were present in all 30 of the uniforms tested, as well as some other clothing worn by children.
REI Members Nationwide Rally At REI Stores Following “Company Inaction“
September 20, 2022, Toxic-Free Future
Spanning 12 cities in 11 states, REI customers will deliver a petition with more than 130,000 signatures demanding action on PFAS “forever chemicals.” Competitor Patagonia already committed to phase out all PFAS in products by 2024, yet REI has failed to set a timeline to ban PFAS, according to a national campaign led by a coalition of grassroots groups.
The Best Managers Are Leaders — And Vice Versa
September 22, 2022, Harvard Business Review
Most of the long-running debate over “leaders” vs. “managers” focuses on nouns when it should focus on verbs. Everyone needs both “leading” and “managing” in their work, and the best executives balance the two.
NYC’s Delivery Drivers Depend On E-Bikes, But Charging And Storing Them Isn’t Easy
September 20, 2022, Marketplace
To make money as a delivery worker in New York City, you have to be fast. And if you want to be fast, a car is not the way to go. Instead, most delivery workers now use electric bikes. But the city is now considering banning e-bikes and their rechargeable lithium-ion batteries from public housing after a number of fires have been attributed to batteries overheating and exploding.
Safe Infant Sleep: Consumer Groups Say Australian Product Regulation Lags
September 21, 2022, The Guardian
“Australia has some of the strongest safety standards in the world for important categories such as household cots and strollers,” says the consumer affairs group Choice. “However, there’s inconsistency with some products such as bassinets (used for the first months of a baby’s life) which don’t have an Australian standard at all, and portable cots which have outdated mandatory standards,” Choice charges.
Wrap-Up Of Federal And State Chemical Regulator Developments, September 2022
September 20, 2022, JD Supra
A wide range of subjects were addressed in September’s federal and state chemical regulation. These include findings for certain new chemicals for significant new uses, revising risk determination, consolidating TSCA regulations, OECD (Organization For Economic Cooperation and Development) reports on the safety of manufactured nanomaterials.
Theories Of AI Liability: It’s Still About The Human Element
September 20, 2022, Reuters
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a transformative technology changing nearly all sectors of commerce ranging from analytical modeling and e-commerce to health care. AI systems are capable of perceiving, learning, and forecasting outputs with minimal human intervention, Although AI systems offer potentially significant benefits to society, they also present new risks and legal challenges for liability. Without regulatory standards applicable to AI systems specifically, theories of liability currently available and applicable to AI systems still hinge on finding the human behind its development or application liable rather than the AI itself.
Causation Issues In PFAS Litigation: Where Did The “Forever” Chemical Come From?
September 20, 2022, JD Supra
PFAS were developed in the 1930s, and over the course of the 20th century became nearly ubiquitous due to their remarkable ability to make surfaces resistant to oils and wrinkles. They are broadly present in consumer goods, including food packaging, clothing, furniture fabrics, and nonstick cookware, as well as firefighting foams Humans ingest them through food, drinking water, and household dust.
World’s Leading Consumer Goods Companies Put Transparency And Transformation At Forefront Of Latest Deforestation Report
September 22, 2022, The Consumer Goods Forum
Report shows how the world’s leading initiative of consumer goods companies taking collective action on deforestation are taking individual and collective steps to transform palm oil, soy, paper packaging, and beef supply chains and production landscapes.
EU Commission Expects To Set The World’s Cybersecurity Standards For Connected Devices
September 22, 2022, Euractiv.com
The proposal for a Cyber Resilience Act introduced a security-by-design approach for all products with digital components. The idea is to oblige manufacturers to address vulnerabilities to facilitate consumer uptake of connected products. The Internet of Things sector is expected to boom in the coming years.
A Shut-Off Switch Was Supposed To Prevent 99% Of Generator-Related Deaths. It Failed A Family Of Three.
September 21, 2022, NBC News
The generator industry has touted automatic shut-off switches as a lifesaving fix for carbon monoxide poisoning. But the voluntary standard falls short of what the Consumer Product Safety Commission says is necessary to eliminate deaths.
