An alternative, precautionary approach to the regulation of the manufacturing, marketing and use of chemicals in Europe
Publication date: May 1999
Summary
Although the European Community remains one of the largest chemical producing regions of the world, we still know remarkably little about the hazards posed by the vast majority of chemicals currently being manufactured and marketed. In addition to those existing substances which have yet to be assessed, and which, as a consequence, are not subject to regulation, many new substances are manufactured and added to the market each year, again without adequate evaluation of the hazards they may pose.
Current risk-based chemical legislation within the EU, in the form of directives for new and existing chemicals and related instruments, has proved incapable of addressing the scale and severity of the problem. Moreover, such an approach suffers from a number of inherent and fundamental limitations which fatally compromise its utility. Current regulations will never be capable of ensuring an adequate level of protection of the environment and human health from exposure to, and effects of, hazardous chemicals.
