Almost a third of the chemicals on the EU market since 2010 are potentially dangerous to human health, in violation of the EU REACH regulation (Registration, Evaluation and Limited Authorisation of Chemicals), according to a study released to the public on Friday 12 October by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), alarmed by these results.
The result of a three-year survey conducted by the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (Bfr), this study, presented at a workshop of these two agencies in August, went unnoticed.
It shows that chemical companies have been able to market hundreds of products for years without first providing the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) with the required data on their toxicity, fertility or neurological development, without regard for public health and the environment.
For 32% of the 1,814 chemical substances produced in large volumes in Europe or imported since 2010, data are non-compliant (missing, inaccurate or insufficient). Only 31% are in compliance and the remaining third require a thorough investigation.
As a result, millions of tonnes of these substances, including phthalates and bisphenol A, are found in consumer and industrial products, the EEB states with outrage, given the increasing number of cancers.
Speaking of a "new scandal similar to a Dieselgate remake for the chemical industry", the Greens/EFA Group in the Parliament considered, like France's Michèle Rivasi, that "once again, it would seem that the European Commission, the member states, but also ECHA, have shown, at least, flippancy in the face of an alarming situation and that they have not been able to ensure compliance with the legislation nor, a fortiori, the protection of citizens".
Her colleague Mireille D'Ornano (EFDD) points out that "ECHA is in reality only responsible for monitoring 5% of the dossiers submitted to it and does not appear to be at all up to the task", granting "its approval for the marketing of suspect substances without review". And she added: "The regulation thus appears to be a clear failure, or even an organised system to facilitate the marketing of potentially dangerous substances to the greatest benefit of chemical lobbies". (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)