Greenpeace today urged the European Commission to stand up to the chemical industry and block their attempts to weaken new regulations to control the production and use of the world's most hazardous chemicals in consumer products and factories.
The call follows the release of new figures by the EU today revealing that the chemical industry has been scaremongering about the costs of implementing the new regulations.
According to the new EU impact assessment, chemical producers will have to bear costs of 2.3 billion euro over 11 years. This represents 0.05% of the sector's annual turnover. These costs will be passed on to users and are expected to result in an overall cost to industry of 2.8-5.2 billion euro over 11 years.
As part of a concerted lobbying exercise by the chemical industry previous reports had claimed that the new regulations "which aim to phase out the use of the most hazardous chemicals" would cost 20 - 30 billion Euros. Industry lobbying has already led to the serious weakening of the REACH drafts over the summer.
Mark Strutt Greenpeace UK toxics campaigner said, "Today babies are being born with a cocktail of hazardous chemicals already present in their bodies. What these new regulations aim to do is phase out the most hazardous chemicals, which can accumulate in our bodies, cause cancer and disrupt hormone systems"
He continued, "Replacing these chemicals with safer alternatives will benefit everybody. Its time for the chemical industry to stop whining about costs and agree to stop polluting children's bodies."
Notes for Editors
1. "The social cost of chemicals - the costs and benefits of future chemicals regulation in Europe" by Professor David Pearce and Phoebe Koundouri - WWF May 2003.
