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REACH for a Better Solution

Every day, Americans are exposed to thousands of different chemicals – through the food we eat, the shampoos we use, the plastic water bottles we drink from, our personal electronic devices and dozens of other consumer products.

People tend to assume that all of these products – and the chemicals in them – are tested for safety before they’re allowed on the market. The truth is, they aren’t.

In the United States, chemicals are considered safe unless and until someone proves otherwise. In fact, American companies are not required to find out or make public toxicity data for more than 95%of the chemicals in commercial use. There’s little incentive to develop safer alternatives, because unless there is clear indication that they cause harm, they don’t have to tell anyone.  Sometimes it can take decades to establish sufficient proof. 

Think of how long it took to prove that smoking causes lung cancer.  Establishing that cause-effect relationship was simple compared to the challenges that scientists face when trying to assess the safety of chemicals in consumer products.  There are many reasons for this.  Among the biggest obstacles are the complex mixtures that we all experience and the long delays between exposure and effect. 

 

In contrast to the current approach in the U.S. to chemical regulation, European governments are developing a plan to require much tougher safety evaluations for the most commonly used chemicals, including those used in products imported from the United States. This new program, called REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals) will require companies to register the chemicals they make or use, along with basic safety and exposure information, in a central database.

The European Union’s proposed chemical safety plan was developed amid a growing body of research linking common daily chemical exposures to human health problems, including cancer, infertility, learning disorders and hormonal changes.

For more information on REACH, click here or download the pdf.

For related stories and information, go to CommonDreams.org or Euractiv.com.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org