13 Dec
2006 - Strasbourg, France – A plenary vote by
Members of the European Parliament has left the
new EU chemicals legislation REACH alive but in
a critical condition, according to health, environment,
consumer and women’s advocacy groups.
’Alive’: The legislation, designed
to replace rules up to 40 years old, sets Europe
on a modest step towards a new approach to chemicals
regulation: companies will have to provide safety
data for large volume chemicals that they produce
or import into Europe, and there is a mechanism
for the substitution of persistent and bioaccumulative
chemicals if safer alternatives exist.
It also allows the public to
request information about the presence of a limited
number of hazardous chemicals in products. In
the past, companies could sell whichever chemical
they liked without providing health and safety
information; and hazardous chemicals were only
restricted in response to scandal on a case-by-case
basis.
‘Not kicking’: Major loopholes
in REACH will still allow many chemicals that
can cause serious health problems, including cancer,
birth defects and reproductive illnesses, to continue
being used in manufacturing and consumer goods.
Further concessions exempt companies which import
and manufacture chemicals in volumes below 10
tonnes a year - 60% of chemicals covered by REACH
- from the requirement to provide any meaningful
safety data.
REACH and the new European Chemicals
Agency will therefore require intensive care from
policymakers over the coming years to ensure that
they protect the public from highly hazardous
chemicals.
Under REACH, many ‘high-concern’
chemicals will be allowed onto the market if producers
claim that they can ‘adequately control’ them.
The approach of adequate control – and safe thresholds
- is premised on a risky gamble, given the unknown
effects of chemicals in combination, on vulnerable
hormone functions, and on the development of children
from the earliest stages of life. Medical associations,
consumer groups and innovative businesses across
Europe had called for a complete substitution
requirement in REACH as the minimum necessary
measure against hazardous chemicals.
The loopholes and provisions
for self-regulation contained in these measures
leave REACH very vulnerable to further manipulation
by the chemical industry. There is no guarantee,
for example, that information from third parties
about safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals
will be considered in every case. The new EU Chemicals
Agency in Helsinki will have to be closely monitored
to ensure that REACH can deliver. Without the
necessary support, hazardous chemicals will continue
to contaminate wildlife, our homes and our bodies,
and REACH will prove a failure.
Noemi Cano, WWF DetoX Campaign Communications
Manager,
EU passes new chemical law
13 Dec 2006 - Brussels, Belgium
– After years of debate, European lawmakers adopted
new chemical legislation that will oblige producers
and importers of chemicals to prove that the substances
they put on the EU market are safe for consumers.
According to WWF, the legislation,
known as REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization
of Chemicals), sets Europe on a modest step towards
a new approach to chemicals regulation. Companies
will now have to provide safety data for chemicals
produced above 10 tonnes per year, and there is
a mechanism for the substitution of persistent
and bio-accumulative chemicals if safer alternatives
exist. It also allows the public to request information
about the presence of a limited number of hazardous
chemicals in products.
“Our lobbying over the last
five years, and the hundreds of blood tests we
have undertaken, has really paid-off,” said Paul
King, Director of Campaigns for WWF-UK.
“The EU is now insisting
that chemicals that build-up in living organisms
and those that linger in the environment for a
long time will have to be replaced whenever safer
alternatives are available.”
