[Comment] REACH loophole lets carcinogens stay on market
JORGO RISS
21.11.2006 @ 09:04 CET
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - The promise of a new chemicals regulation for Europe is hanging in the balance today, as European governments waiver in their determination to stand up to the large chemical companies which are intent on undermining its impact.
Within the coming days and weeks, EU governments will give their final word on the proposed regulation, named REACH, for Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals.
"Chemicals are used routinely in all number of articles, from toys, clothing and soap powders to television sets, perfume and paints"
(Photo: Jorgo Riss)
The test of whether the new rules - which have already been drastically watered down - represent progress in protecting the public and environment from the effects of hazardous chemicals will depend on whether governments back measures that would require companies to substitute the most harmful substances with safer alternatives.
Only with such a mechanism will REACH succeed in placing the industrial production and use of chemicals on a more sustainable track, and ensure a healthier future for us all.
Around 100,000 chemicals are registered for use in Europe today, but the vast majority have never been tested for safety. Even so, they are used routinely and without restriction in all number of articles, from toys, clothing and soap powders to television sets, perfume and paints.
Chemical industry lobbyists have succeeded in scaling REACH back to apply to no more than 12,500 of these chemicals. Now they are fighting to defend a loophole that would allow them to continue using extremely harmful chemicals, on the grounds that low level exposure to certain hazardous substances never did anyone any harm.
Current rules on chemicals date back 40 years, and we know a lot more now about the impacts of hazardous substances than we did then. We know, for example, that babies in industrialised countries today are born with around 100 man-made chemicals in their blood, passed to them from their mother's body while feeding in the womb. Meanwhile, there is growing evidence that exposure to chemicals is at least partly to blame for the decline in reproductive health in humans and animals across Europe, and for the increasing incidence of many cancers.
Cancer, birth defects, reproductive illnesses
Nevertheless, there is now a real likelihood that REACH will permit some uses of chemicals that can cause cancer, birth defects and reproductive illnesses, or disrupt hormones, even if safer alternatives without these properties are already on the market. This is the position that the Council is defending, in contrast with calls from the Parliament to grant authorisation only when there are no safer alternatives.
If it goes unchecked, this loophole will undermine one of the main aims of REACH. It will condemn the EU to decades more risk assessment and case-by-case studies, while avoidable chemical exposures are allowed to continue: in the past 12 years, only 140 chemicals have been selected for risk assessment.
To provide the chemical industry with the incentive to switch to using safe chemicals at the earliest opportunity, EU member states must insist on the substitution requirement within REACH.
This would mean that the most harmful chemicals should not be authorised where a safer alternative is available. Where an alternative is not available, the producer should be granted a permit to continue producing that substance for a limited period of time only if they can prove that continued use of the chemical is essential to society, and until safer substitutes become available.
Two weeks ago, peer-reviewed journal The Lancet reported a warning from doctors of a "silent pandemic" of neuro-developmental disorders caused by toxic chemicals in the environment. The doctors called on EU decision-makers to adopt a precautionary approach on chemicals to protect children's brain development.
Ten days ago, Unesco in Paris hosted a congress on the health risks caused by chemical pollution, inspired by an international declaration signed by 1,000 medical professionals and scientists, including the Standing Committee of European Doctors, which represents all 2 million medical doctors in the 25 EU member states. One of their main demands is that REACH requires the substitution of hazardous chemicals whenever safer alternatives are available.
Waiting 11 years for failed legislation?
The European Trade Union Confederation has predicted that improved worker health as a result of a strong REACH could bring cost-savings totalling €90 billion over 30 years, by reducing occupational skin and respiratory diseases. And Europe's water and waste water industry has highlighted the vast potential savings from controlling chemical contaminants at source, as many cannot be removed from water.
Businesses from the electronics industry to the retail clothing, furniture and construction sectors have shown a growing willingness to support substitution, replacing harmful chemicals used in their business and production processes. Companies like Nokia, Skanska, Marks & Spencer, Adidas, Ikea and Mango want assurances from their suppliers that they are using safe chemicals.
REACH's direct costs to the chemical industry have been calculated at €0.2 billion, or 0.05% of the sector's annual turnover. This is 38 times less than it spends on research and development each year.
EU government ministers called for a chemicals policy reform back in 1998. REACH will be progressively phased in from next year, and fully implemented by 2018. To wait 11 years to see a failed piece of legislation enter into force would be a sad reflection on our ability to prioritise the protection of public health and the environment over the vested interests of large corporations. It is time for the political leaders of Europe to stand up for the public, their true constituency.
Th author is director of the European Unit of Greenpeace