European Parliament Crafts New Rules on Chemicals

Abstract

After years of debate, the European Parliament last week approved a sweeping law to test most compounds used in commerce. The measure, as originally proposed, would have required countries in the European Union to test 30,000 common substances ( Science , 7 November 2003, [p. 969][1]). But companies said it would cost too much. Parliament scaled back the rules last week, requiring safety tests for only about 10,000 of the most widely used substances over the next 11 years, starting with the most dangerous. But the law will require that all 30,000 chemicals flagged in the original draft be registered. And firms must replace hazardous chemicals with safe ones. The European Environmental Bureau said the rules should be tighter and that they “would hamper the identification of harmful chemicals such as hormone disrupters.” But a spokesperson with probusiness lobby Unice said the rules were “going in the right direction.” [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.302.5647.969b