The European Union is reportedly considering banning the use of ethanol as an active ingredient in biocidal products — including hand sanitisers — due to rising concerns about potential cancer risks, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, an internal recommendation dated 10 October from a working group within the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) identified ethanol as a toxic substance linked to an increased risk of cancer and pregnancy complications, suggesting it should be replaced in cleaning and other related products.
The ECHA’s Biocidal Products Committee is scheduled to convene between 25 and 27 November.
In an emailed statement to Reuters, the ECHA said it was currently assessing ethanol’s suitability for biocidal use. The agency noted that if its expert committee determined ethanol could cause cancer or adversely affect human reproduction, it would recommend substituting the substance.
The ECHA added that evaluations were ongoing and no final conclusions had yet been reached. A definitive decision will be made by the European Commission after the committee issues its scientific opinion.
The World Health Organization continues to classify both ethanol and isopropanol as safe for use in hand hygiene.
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European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
Iran will not let a single particle of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, and any new U.S. attack would be met with strikes on distant American bases, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is stepping down amid reports linking him to a woman suspected by U.S. authorities of spying for China, throwing the future of the $4 trillion chipmaker into uncertainty.
Four million workers across Spain joined a general strike on Wednesday over the country’s deepening housing crisis, unions said, bringing disruption to factories, ports, shops and public transport just weeks before a snap general election.
Kazakhstan’s security service has arrested Nurlan Zhakupov, CEO of Samruk-Kazyna, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, on suspicion of corruption. Yelzhas Otynshiyev, Chairman of KTZ, Kazakhstan’s national railway firm has also been detained.
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Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for the 5th of November, as health emergencies, humanitarian crises, political shifts, and cybersecurity threats put governments and essential services under pressure across the globe. Here are five stories worth your attention.
Kazakhstan plans to manufacture 494 types of medicines through eight major investment projects worth a combined $862 million, Health Minister Akmaral Alnazarova announced on 3 November, local media reported.
Dengue fever has killed more people in Bangladesh this year than in the whole of 2025, with October the deadliest month so far, data from Bangladesh's Health Ministry shows.
Visitors to Armenia could face temperature screening after a lab worker died from suspected Pneumonic plague in Russia, Yerevan’s Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan told lawmakers on Wednesday, Armenian state news agency Armenpress reported.
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