WASHINGTON, May 7 /PRNewswire/ - Today, the European Union moves one step closer towards launching a sweeping new policy initiative that would close a large loophole in information and regulation on toxic chemicals, creating new structures for government oversight of chemicals used in commerce and consumer products.  The policy would require that industry publicly provide basic health, safety and environmental impact data for a long list of chemicals that have not been tested for their impacts despite widespread use in everyday consumer products. 

The new chemicals policy - called REACH, for Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals - will ensure that within an 11-year time frame, all chemicals marketed over one ton per year must be accompanied by public data on hazards or risk being prohibited from the market.  REACH would restrict the use of chemicals suspected of being carcinogenic, reproductive toxins as well as those known to persist and accumulate in the environment. 

"US NGOs welcome Europe's efforts to take this major step forward in promoting a common-sense approach to managing the use of toxic substances," Daryl Ditz, Senior Program Officer at World Wildlife Fund's US Toxics Programs.  "Since Europe is home to the largest chemical market in the world, REACH has the potential to transform the global playing field, demanding greater accountability from industry and rewarding companies that offer safer products," concluded Ditz. 

The REACH proposal is expected to be officially released on the Internet for a five-week public comment period.  The United States government and many industry lobbyists have voiced harsh opposition to REACH. According to recent press reports, the US Department of Commerce is planning a series of town meetings across the US to drum up opposition to the European chemicals plan.  The US is also expected to lodge a formal protest to REACH. 

"As the American Chemistry Council and US government try to block progress in Europe, they should heed the warning that a recent voter opinion survey shows that over 80% of the voters in the states polled, overwhelmingly support policies such as REACH," said Monica Rohde Buckhorn, Coordinator of the Alliance for Safe Alternatives, which released its new polling data last month. 

Most Americans mistakenly believe that the US government routinely tests chemicals used in consumer products to make sure they are safe, the polling data also shows.  However, lax chemical regulations in the US have created a situation in which there is no basic human health data available to the public for many of the 85,000-plus chemicals on the market today.  The US chemical industry has a long history of widespread use of chemicals, such as DDT, PCBs and CFCs, only to find out decades later that these chemicals pose serious hazards to human health and the environment.  Recent studies demonstrate that many chemicals used in everyday consumer products - such as perfluorinated compounds used in Teflon pans, phthalates used in cosmetics, bisphenol A used in hard plastics, and brominated flame retardants used in foams, fabrics and electronic goods - are accumulating in our blood, mother's breast milk, and even in the bodies of arctic polar bears.  In laboratory tests, these chemicals are increasingly associated with cancers and reproductive problems that are on the rise in the United States. 

"With one in three Americans developing cancer, it is long overdue for US industry and government to recognize the need for a new system that requires the chemical industry to conduct basic health studies to ensure that their products are not making people sick," said Alexandra McPherson, North American Director of Clean Production Action. 

The US government cites unsubstantiated chemical industry claims that REACH will cost American industries billions of dollars for the testing and evaluation of chemicals. However, European estimates of the cost of REACH amount to less than 0.1% of the chemical industry's annual sales.  Margot Wallstrom, the European Union's Environment Commissioner, estimates that REACH will save $20 to $60 billion in health care costs over the next thirty years, as well as reduce 2,200 to 4,300 cancer cases per year. 

The release is the joint statement of the following groups:  Alliance for a Clean Environment, Cancer Action NY, Center for Environmental Health, Center for Health, Environment & Justice, Citizens Environmental Coalition, Citizens Leading for Environmental Action and Responsibility, Clean Production Action, Clean Water Action Alliance of Massachusetts, Coalition for Health, Environmental & Economic Rights, Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice, Consumers' Healthy Home Center, Environmental Health Fund, Environmental Health Strategy Center, Ecology Center, Friends of the Earth - USA, Global Community Monitor, Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility; Greenpeace USA, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Institute for Children's Environmental Health, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Mercury Policy Project, Oregon Environmental Council, Oregon Toxics Alliance, Science and Environmental Health Network, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, Strategic Counsel On Corporate Accountability; Syracuse United Neighbors, Washington Toxics Coalition, World Wildlife Fund USA, Women's Voices for the Earth, U.S. Public Interest Research Group. 

For more information on key national, state and local policy work, please visit the following websites:
www.healthytomorrow.org,
www.preventharm.org
www.watoxics.org,
http://www.worldwildlife.org/toxics/whatsnew/reach_qa.htm
www.safealternatives.org,
www.cleanproduction.org
www.greenpeace.org 

World Wildlife Fund USA 

CONTACT: Monica Rhode Buckhorn of Center for Health, Environment &
Justice, +1-703-237-2249, ext. 19; or Alexandra McPherson of Clean Production
Action, +1-716-805-1056 

Web site: http://www.healthytomorrow.org/ 
http://www.preventharm.org/ 
http://www.watoxics.org/ 
http://www.worldwildlife.org/toxics/whatsnew/reach_qa.htm 
http://www.safealternatives.org/ 
http://www.cleanproduction.org/ 
http://www.greenpeace.org/

Source: Center for Health, Environment & Justice; Clean Production Action; 

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