Jolita Kruopienė

Reduction of Health and Environmental Risks by Substitution of Hazardous Chemical Substances

It has already been nearly 10 years since the REACH Regulation (EC regulation 1907/2006) entered into force in 2007, having the purpose to ensure a high level of protection of human health and environment as well as free circulation of substances on the internal market while enhancing competitiveness and innovation. The final deadline for registration of substances, supplied to the market in amounts from 1 tonne to 100 tonnes, is approaching in 2018. After then, a complete picture of chemicals used in Europe will be available. According to the data of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), until June 2016, 9,472 unique substances were registered following submission of a registration dossier; 3,790 substances were claimed by the notifiers of those substances that had been notified under the previous European chemicals legislation (so-called NONS). Thus, in total there were 13,262 chemical substances registered under the REACH. Companies from Germany contributed to the registration of the biggest number of substances (5,149), followed by the United Kingdom (2,249 substances). Lithuanian companies participated in the registration of 105 chemical substances (NONS excluded); Estonia registered 70 and Latvia 48. Everything around us consists of chemicals; chemicals are used in technological processes and included into products because of their useful properties: they may provide strength or plasticity, give colour, preserve products, etc. At the same time, toxicological, ecotoxicological, or physico-chemical hazards may be the intrinsic properties of chemical substances. To protect humans from these hazards, chemicals have to be handled in a suitable way so that exposure can be reduced to an acceptable level. Or, hazardous chemical substances need to be replaced by safer alternatives. Replacement of hazardous substances in products and processes by less hazardous or non-hazardous substances, or by achieving an equivalent functionality via technological or organisational measures, is called substitution. It is at the top of the hierarchy of control measures applied to substances or mixtures, meaning that the greatest value is in hazard avoidance, not exposure controls. The EU REACH Regulation calls for substitution of the most hazardous substances, called substances of very high concern (SVHCs). These are substances which are carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR), or persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT), or very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB), or which have other properties giving rise to an equivalent level of concern (e.g. endocrine disruptors or respiratory sensitisers). Other legal acts also stipulate substitution (e.g. carcinogens and mutagens shall be substituted according to Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive, 2004/37/ EC). Less hazardous substances may also be replaced, since substitution is a general recommendation. Of the registered substances, 168 chemical substances up to now have been identified as being SVHCs and placed on the Candidate list; 31 of them have been placed on the Authorisation list. Candidate substances Reduction of Health and Environmental Risks by Substitution of Hazardous Chemical Substances