At the beginning of 2021 the UK formally left the EU, and a new system has started to regulate the use of industrial chemicals. But the UK chemical industry is asking for changes to this new system that would result in the possibility that people and the environment would be less protected from hazardous chemicals.

Last week CHEM Trust, with more than 20 health and environment NGOs, wrote to UK ministers to urge the Government not to weaken plans for chemical regulations now we have left the EU.

We hope that the UK Government will resist these unwise and unsafe proposals. In the letter we stressed that the industry’s proposals would “significantly reduce the ability of the regulator to take action to protect the environment and public and workers’ health from hazardous chemicals.”

Harmful chemicals including those with links to cancer and decreased fertility, are found in many everyday products, from furniture and cosmetics, to toys and clothes. Some chemicals are so persistent it will take centuries for them to degrade in the natural environment.

The aim of chemicals regulation should be to establish the chemicals which pose serious risks to our health and the environment and to put in place measures to protect humans, wildlife, and the environment from those chemicals. Good chemicals regulation relies on access to detailed safety data, which the UK is at risk of losing. Read more about CHEM Trust’s proposals for the UK’s new chemicals regulation.

Last week our letter was covered in the Financial Times.

Read more about our work on Brexit and Trade, including our view on December’s EU-UK Brexit trade deal.

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