It is clear that some very powerful forces within the European Commission are working to undermine effective regulation of hormone (endocrine) disrupting chemicals (EDCs). On 20th December 2016, buried in the pre-Christmas wind-down, the Commission released its review of how EDCs should be treated by the authorisation process in the EU’s main REACH chemicals legislation. [...]
Authorisation
The EU’s REACH chemicals law aims to ensure that chemicals are safely manufactured and used, so as to protect human health and the environment, at the same time as enhancing innovation and the competitiveness of EU industry. REACH includes requirements on companies to provide – and use – safety information on chemicals, and provides mechanisms to ban [...]
A new report, published today by the European Environment Bureau (EEB), argues that unless the EU chemicals regulation REACH “is better enforced, it will never achieve its aim of removing harmful chemicals from the market“. EEB and CHEM Trust are particularly concerned about the way the ‘Authorisation’ system is working, which is supposed to result [...]
One of the main objectives of the EU’s REACH chemical regulation system is to provide a high level of protection for people and the environment. A key part of this system is the authorisation process, which incentivises companies that are using the most problematic chemicals to move to safer alternatives. The European Commission have just been consulting on two [...]
On 24th March I took part in an event in Brussels, organised by EurActiv, discussing the relationship between the REACH chemicals regulations and the Circular Economy, in particular the interaction between REACH & recycling. The other panelists included representatives of the European Commission (both DG Environment and DG Growth), the plastic pipe industry and an [...]
New research, published today, finds that there is a link between the exposure of pregnant women to the phthalate DEHP and the development of their baby boys. As the press release for the research states: “Our findings show that even at low levels, environmental exposure to these ubiquitous chemicals can adversely affect male genital development, which [...]
Last week the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) held a conference on “Lessons learnt on Applications for Authorisation“. I couldn’t attend myself, but I did watch much of it on line – I’ve also spoken to people who were there. It ended up being a very positive event, which is good news as Authorisation is an [...]
2019 Presentation on the impact of Brexit on chemical and environmental policy, February 2019. A presentation “Impacts of Brexit on Chemicals and Environmental Policy” by Kate Young at the Brexit Civil Society Alliance’s “Brexit & Civil Society Roundtable” event in York on 25th Feb 2019. Presentation on chemicals and Brexit at a Westminster Energy, Environment & [...]
The EU’s REACH system for regulating chemicals was supposed to bring with it a significant improvement in protection of people and the environment from toxic chemicals. But is it delivering? The latest developments in the debate over alternatives to the phthalate DEHP, used in PVC products, suggest that there are some serious problems. One particular [...]
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are chemicals that can disrupt the functioning of the endocrine (or hormonal) systems of humans or wildlife. There are EU laws in place that can restrict their use – but they will only work if there is agreement on how to decide if a chemical is an EDC. The issue of criteria [...]
