Thousands of potentially harmful chemicals may soon be banned in Europe under new restrictions that activists consider the strongest so far.
Earlier this year, scientists said chemical pollution had crossed a “planetary boundary” beyond the decay of global ecosystems.
The synthetic seizure is estimated to push whale species to the brink of extinction and has been blamed for reducing human birth rates and 2 million deaths a year.
The EU’s “roadmap for restrictions” released on Monday is intended as a first step in transforming this picture by using existing laws to ban toxic substances related to cancer, hormonal disorders, reprotoxic disorders, obesity, diabetes and other diseases.
Industry groups say up to 12,000 substances could eventually fall under the new proposal, which will be “the world’s biggest ban on toxic chemicals”, according to the European Environment Agency (EEB).
Tatiana Santos, the bureau’s chemicals policy manager, said: “Control of chemicals in the EU is usually painfully slow, but the EU is planning the boldest detoxification we’ve ever seen. Lobbyists in the petrochemical industry are shocked by what is now on the table. He promises to improve the safety of almost all products produced and to quickly reduce the chemical intensity of our schools, homes and workplaces. “
The plan focuses on whole classes of chemicals for the first time as a rule, including all flame retardants, bisphenols, PVC plastics, toxic chemicals in disposable diapers and PFAS, also known as “chemicals forever” because they degrade over time. of course.
All of them will be placed on a “rolling list” of substances to be considered for restriction by the European Chemicals Agency. The list will be regularly reviewed and updated before a major revision of the EU’s cornerstone regulation on the Reach for Chemicals, scheduled for 2027.
The chemicals identified in the new document include substances in food contact materials, disposable diapers and PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) in playground pellets.
But industry groups say the scheme’s focus on groups of chemicals could affect high-level products such as sunscreens and perfumes that can use many synthetic substances.
“Many different ingredients fall into the group of skin sensitizers, so a wide range of cosmetic products could potentially be affected,” said John Chave, CEO of Cosmetics Europe, a trade organization. “The effect on consumers would be that there would potentially be less variety, less choice and less functional efficiency for cosmetic products without any safety gains, as the ingredients were safe in the first place.”
In addition to cosmetics, affected products may include paints, cleaners, adhesives, lubricants and pesticides.
The European Reach system is already the world’s largest chemical registry, and new bans could hit more than a quarter of the industry’s annual turnover of about 500 billion euros (420 billion British pounds) a year, according to a study by the Cefic trade group.
“Some of the restrictions could have a significant impact on the industry and value chains,” said Heather Kiggins, a spokeswoman for Cefic.
The industry is advocating a narrower approach to restrictions and incentives and import controls to help develop safer alternative products.
However, the European Chemicals Agency prefers to work with chemicals in groups, as chemical companies have previously avoided bans on individual chemicals by changing their chemical composition to create other substances that can also be dangerous, but which after this requires lengthy legislative battles for regulation.
The industry’s tactic, known as “unfortunately replacement”, has been criticized by environmental groups for allowing substances such as bisphenol A, which disrupts the endocrine system, to be replaced by other bisphenols.
Santos described it as a “cynical and irresponsible tactic by the chemical industry to replace the most harmful banned chemicals with similar ones that are not yet on the regulatory radar.” We have witnessed a decades-long model of pathetic substitution to avoid regulation. “
More than 190 million synthetic chemicals are registered worldwide, and a new industrial chemical is created on average every 1.4 seconds.
The UN says it expects the global value of the industry of more than 5 trillion dollars (3.9 trillion British pounds) to double by 2030 and quadruple by 2060.
EU Environment Commissioner Virginia Sinkevičius said the new restrictions “aim to reduce human and environmental exposure to some of the most harmful chemicals, covering a wide range of their uses – industrial, professional and consumer products”.
Sign up for the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am
EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said achieving a toxic-free environment would require transparency and visibility from the commission. “The constraint roadmap provides such visibility and allows companies and other stakeholders to be better prepared for potential upcoming constraints,” he said.
Millions of tons of chemicals were used by industrial giants such as BASF, Bayer, Dow Chemicals and ExxonMobil without completing safety checks between 2014 and 2019, according to a study by German environmentalists.
Add Comment