The UK Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution is proposing a radical reform of the way that chemicals are regulated. The report Chemicals in Products: Safeguarding the Environment and Human Health urges a more transparent and precautionary approach to chemical regulation than is currently being proposed by the EU (see related article).
Only a tiny fraction of chemicals on the market today have been assessed for long-term safety. The report proposes that computer programmes already widely used by the pharmaceutical industry could be adapted to test for toxicity of chemicals. This could avoid extensive animal tests and ensure that up to 90 % of chemicals are evaluated for health impact within 3 years.
The European Commission’s consultation on the new draft chemicals legislation is open until 11 July 2003. For a simplified mechanism to express your views on the subject use the website on chemicals set up by environmental NGOs.
