European Parliament’s REACH compromise
A bad deal for women, children and the environment.
10.11.2005 |Daniela Rosche
WECF
10.11.2005
European Parliament’s REACH compromise: a bad deal for women, children and environment
The deal that the major three groups in the European Parliament, the Conservatives (EPP-ED), the Liberals (ALDE) and the European Socialists (PSE) agreed to yesterday is a bad one for women, children and the environment.
“It is disheartening to see that in order to reach an accord they have started a race to the bottom. The new provisions on the registration of substances between 1-10t undermine the most important goals of REACH” says Daniela Rosche, the WECF REACH expert. “This deal provides very little protection to women and children from the dangerous effects of synthetic chemicals”, says Rosche.
Under the struck deal, industry does no longer have to submit toxicological or ecotoxicological data on the substances they produce in volumes between 1 and 10 tonnes. This concerns two thirds of all substances that fall under REACH. Yet such data is exactly what is missing regarding substances on the EU market. Without this data, especially long-term effects of synthetic chemicals cannot be detected. This in turn is bad news for human health protection, as these effects can harm the child’s development early on yet may only become visible at a later stage.
Cord-blood samples of 1200 children in Flandres show that babies are already borne with levels of hazardous chemicals several times over the maximum limits as set for adults . The new agreement will not ensure that these substances will be detected expeditiously and taken off the market.
Contact Person: Daniela Rosche, Policy Coordinator (Chemicals)
E-mail: daniela.rosche@wecf.org
Mobile: +31-6-22950027
www.wecf.org/reach
