Chemicals of concern, or not?
16 Jun 2003
The UK Chemicals Stakeholder Forum, the forum that advises the UK Government on reducing the risks from industrial chemicals to the environment and to human health, has published a list of high production volume chemicals that it is concerned may be persistent, bioaccumulative and/or toxic.
The Forum is calling for further information on the properties and use of the substances on the list in order to establish the degree of risk they present.
'For many of the chemicals on the list, we need more information from companies that produce, supply and use these chemicals in order to establish whether these chemicals represent a significant risk,' said Lord Selborne, the chairman of the Forum.
In a statement, the Forum added, however, that the list itself is consultative and should be regarded as a work in progress. The Forum regularly reviews and updates the list and chemicals are removed if data shows that they do not meet the hazard criteria it has established, if they fall outside its remit, or if they are no longer used or manufactured in the UK in significant quantities.
The forum urged those companies that produce and use chemicals on the list to come forward with data on hazards and exposure as soon as possible.
The UK Chemical Industries Association (CIA), however, expressed its reservations concerning the list.
The CIA said that there were some chemicals on the list which have been determined to be neither persistent nor bioaccumulative, and it believed that this fact brought into question the 'robustness' of the list.
CIA Director - Responsible Care & Environmental Policy, Jon Chapman said: 'We do not believe that sufficient research into the accuracy (of the list) has taken place. While we want to see greater openness and transparency with information on chemicals, no-one's cause is helped if the information is not accurate.'
The Chemicals Stakeholder Forum's list of 'chemicals of concern' can be found on the Forum's website <a href='http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/chemicals/csf/concern'>by clicking here</a>.
