Tag: REACH

The EU must take action to reduce human's exposure to suspected hormone-affecting endocrine disruptors. Current regulation should be closely examined with a view to updating or proposing new legislation by June 2015 at the latest, the European Parliament's Public Health Committee said in resolution approved yesterday (23 January).

Environmental NGOs have accused the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) of leniency in enforcing the REACH regulation on chemical safety, raising the pressure on the European Commission to tighten the screw ahead of a review expected this month.

The REACH chemical safety regulation has so far showed limited results, with only "anecdotal evidence" that industry was starting to phase out the most dangerous substances, the European Commission said ahead of a review of the legislation due later this month.

Danish Environment Minister Ida Auken has decided to ban four industrial chemicals linked to disrupting the human endocrine system, pushing Denmark ahead of the European Union which has already started a process of phasing out phthalates.

As the Euro 2012 football competition nears kick off, the continent’s most skilful footballers have been warned that their shirts could well be stuffed full of harmful toxins by the European Consumer Organisation, BEUC.

Shanna H. Swan, a renowned scientist specialising in reproductive medicine, has warned about the health effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) known as phthalates which can end up in food via pesticides or plastics. In an interview with EurActiv, she calls on regulators to better protect consumers against those "hidden chemicals".

The EU's risk assessment system for chemicals has derailed and should be reformed urgently in favour of a science-based system that takes full account of the work undertaken by the scientific community, argues Hans Muilerman.

The Czech and Slovak governments are pressuring European leaders to reconsider “excessive” safety regulations on the chemicals industry that they contend hurt smaller businesses and undermine economic growth.

The European Commission will propose today (25 October) new plans to tackle the growing use of drugs in Europe, with the intent of countering the spread of new substances and the use of legal chemicals in the production of drugs such as cocaine or heroin.

No fundamental overhaul of the EU's controversial REACH chemicals regulation should be expected under a review scheduled for next year, the European Commission told participants at a conference last week, despite industry calls to ease the law's burdensome registration system.

Though the European project is currently facing a critical crisis with some even announcing its death, the European Union has overcome similar situations in the past and its influence in areas like environmental policy and democracy-promotion in Eastern Europe continues to be underestimated, said John McCormick in an interview with EurActiv.

European chemical companies have warned the watchdog that oversees them that it could face legal action if it publishes the names of manufacturers of the most toxic substances, in a growing environmental dispute.

Environmental lobby ChemSec on Tuesday (3 May) highlighted 22 hormone-disrupting chemicals routinely found in plastics, packaging and cosmetics that it wants regulated by the European Union.

The European Union will ban the use of organic compound Bisphenol A (BPA) in plastic baby bottles from 2011 with the backing of a majority of EU governments, the EU's executive Commission said on Thursday (25 November).

Small firms will pay smaller fees to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) following a decision by the European Commission to slash levies by up to 90%.

Parts of the 1000-page REACH chemicals regulation remain unclear and need to be amended in order to speed up the subsitution of hazardous chemicals with safer ones, Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said yesterday (22 March).

Efforts by EU governments to force cosmetics manufacturers to inform consumers when products contain nanomaterials were resisted by Germany, it has emerged. 

The agency responsible for implementing highly controversial new EU laws on chemicals has been saved from financial paralysis after the European Parliament voted to overrule national governments' attempts to force a €4.7 million budget cut.

More global regulation on chemicals is required, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas agreed at a forum last week, urging action on 'chemical cocktails', endocrine disruptors and nanotechnology.

Companies are submitting technically incomplete REACH registration dossiers and are trying to register several substances per file, while failing to be precise enough on the exact composition of their substances, the executive director of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), Geert Dancet, told EurActiv in an interview.

The European Parliament last week backed a controversial report by Swedish Green MEP Carl Schlyter urging the European Commission to revise its stance on nanomaterials. MEPs said all nanomaterials should be considered as new substances, and that existing legislation does not take into account the risks associated with nanotechnology.

As the first list of 15 chemicals of "very high concern" was published on Tuesday (28 October), the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is urging companies to find out about their new obligations under the scheme.

The first list of hazardous chemicals to be submitted for EU regulatory approval may only contain 12 substances, said EU Chemicals Agency Director Geert Dancet during a conference which saw the launch of another document listing some 270 chemicals that meet the official REACH criteria for authorisation.

Environment issues leapt up the political agenda last year, but implementation of measures is "lagging behind", according to a Commission review of EU environment policy in 2007 published yesterday (2 July).