Brussels, 30/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission decided on Monday to adopt a further restriction on the use of hexachloroethane (HCE) because it poses an unacceptable environmental risk, particularly to aquatic organisms.
HCE is used in the manufacturing and processing of various non-ferrous metals because it is able to reduce the volume of impurities they contain. The Commission first introduced an EU-wide restriction on its use in 1997 when the need to cut the dangers of using the chemical was clearly identified. The first restriction only applied to a few industrial processes for which less dangerous chemicals were available. On Monday, the Commission decided to ban the use of HCE from 30 June 2003 onwards for the purification of non-ferrous metals. This is HCE's main use, in fact, but the other uses do not pose particular risks.
The EU industry now faces the challenge of developing materials or technical alternatives in the next twenty or so months. (For further information: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/chemicals/markrestr/ongowk/ongowk.htm and the Official Journal of the European Communities C (2001) 3226.)