The European Commission has postponed until the fourth quarter of 2023 its session to approve amendments to the REACH regulation (EU reg. 1907/2006) by which it was to ban numerous chemicals hazardous to health and the environment.
The REACH Regulation
REACH, Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals, is the European Union regulation that applies to all chemicals that are manufactured, imported or placed on the market either as such or as components of mixtures or other articles, so not only those used in industrial processes, but also in everyday items.
One of the main goals of the legislation is to protect people’s health by going to replace the most dangerous substances with alternatives, if they exist, that are more sustainable.
On those who manufacture or import such substances, moreover, falls the responsibility to manage the risks and provide all information related to their safety (reg 1907, Recitals 12 and 16).
The role of ECHA
Manufacturers or importers of chemicals are required to register such substances, if they exceed the quantity of one ton per year, with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), providing information on the substance’s hazardousness and uses made (Art. 6, Title II, Chapter I).
The Agency evaluates trials on the most hazardous substances and the information released. Some particularly hazardous substances, contained in Annex XIV, are only authorized for certain uses (Title VII) while on others, listed in Annex XVII, a restriction hangs and they can only be manufactured or imported by complying with all the conditions of the restriction (Title VIII).
The EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability
On 14.10.20, the European Commission adopted an ambitious project, Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability: Towards a Toxic-free Environment, with the aim of placing a further limit on the circulation of chemicals deemed most hazardous and to encourage their replacement by more sustainable alternatives. (1)
This project, to be part of the Green Deal‘s zero-pollution strategy, was realized in the roadmap presented on 4/25/22 and represents a real revolution in chemistry. The goal is to ban between 5 and 7 thousand substances that are considered hazardous and are also found in everyday objects.
The roadmap
To ensure that commitments made are met, a roadmap has been constructed where restrictions that have already occurred, the progress of those in progress and the timing of those planned are indicated.
The plan is to ban Pvc, Pfas, flame retardants, parabens (2) and thousands of other substances each with a different deadline, but by 2030, because they are harmful to our health, believed to be responsible for causing cancer and infertility, as well as being pollutants to our planet.(3) And we, with such substances, come into contact daily, even if we do not realize it. They are present in food packaging, cleaning products, but also in cosmetics, clothing and even in baby products, such as toys, baby bottles, pacifiers and diapers.
The power of the chemical lobby
According to Eurostat, 284 million tons of chemicals were produced in 2020, 78 million of which are considered hazardous (4). If it is a threat to us, it is a fortune to the chemical industry: in Europe alone, the chemical industry has a turnover of nearly 500 billion euros in 2020. (5) It is therefore not surprising that the chemical lobby has succeeded in slowing down the work. In fact, the proposed revision was to be submitted by the end of the year, but on 10/18/22 it was postponed until the fourth quarter of 2023.
Thus, the vote has little chance of taking place under the presidency of Ursula von der Layen, given that new elections are likely to be in 2024. This worries environmentalists and advocates of ecological transition as von der Layen has given a strong impetus to the path toward a greener Europe. Recall how the chemical lobby had already managed to influence the vote on endocrine disruptors in 2016. (6)
Notes
(1) https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/chemicals-strategy_en
(2) M. Strinati, Dangerous Chemistry, the European Commission’s Restrictions Roadmap, GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 3.5.22
(3) https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/49734
(4) Eurostat https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20211130-3
(6) D. Dongo, Endocrine disruptors, the Commission is latent, 4.12.17.
Graduated in Law from the University of Bologna, she attended the Master in Food Law at the same University. You participate in the WIISE srl benefit team by dedicating yourself to European and international research and innovation projects.
