Brussels, 13/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - DEHP, a phthalate which is known to be reprotoxic, should not be authorised in the EU for the production of soft PVC articles from recycled PVC waste, the MEPs of the committee on the environment of the European Parliament stated on Tuesday 10 November.
The draft resolution they adopted for submission to the plenary session of the end of the month (23-26 November) therefore called upon the European Commission to reject the application for authorisation.
Highlighting the serious nature of the harmful effects which can be caused by DEHP, the MEPs expressed concern that the companies which made the application for authorisation had failed to provide proof either that the risks to workers' health were adequately controlled, or that the socio-economic benefits arising from the use of the substance would outweigh its risks.
They reiterate that the REACH regulation (1907/2006/EC) on the registration, evaluation and limited authorisation of chemical substances is based on the principle of precaution. However, they argue, the extremely broad scope of the authorisation, if granted, would run counter to the principle of substitution (replacement of a dangerous substance with a less toxic alternative) which should apply to DEHP, a substance which is toxic to reproduction, is included in Annexe XIV of the REACH regulation and was among the first compounds supposed to be phased out under the regulation. The member states' experts unanimously acknowledged that there is scientific evidence that DEHP is an endocrine disrupter for the environment and that the European Commission itself proposed to identify DEHP as an endocrine disrupter for human health, the draft resolution stresses. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)