1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,280 Cosentina, a small town nestled in the hills between Valencia and Alicante, provides a 2 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:10,180 poignant reminder of the potential dangers of the chemicals we take for granted in our 3 00:00:10,180 --> 00:00:11,780 everyday lives. 4 00:00:11,780 --> 00:00:16,960 In 1992, a textile company called Ardestil instructed its workers to spray a dye stuff 5 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,960 which was designed to be applied by a roller. 6 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:25,560 This may sound like a minor departure from normal practice, but it had disastrous consequences. 7 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:30,720 When the workers in this factory sprayed the dye, its particles filled the air like fog. 8 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:35,920 Six young employees later died from having inhaled the toxic substance and 80 more contracted 9 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:37,920 serious lung diseases. 10 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:42,160 One of the innocent victims was the daughter of Amparo Pascual, who now acts as spokeswoman 11 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:53,240 for the survivors of the accident. 12 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:58,520 In 2003, a Spanish court ruled that Ardestil had used dangerous chemicals in its factory 13 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,640 and had failed to show its workers how to handle them. 14 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,960 In addition, it concluded that the serious lung damage suffered by the workers was directly 15 00:01:05,960 --> 00:01:11,160 related to the lack of preventative measures and exposure to a cocktail of chemicals. 16 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:16,000 Pascual campaigns with other victims and relatives of victims, such as Chelo Raguez, to prevent 17 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:36,120 a repeat of the Ardestil tragedy. 18 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,120 Raguez knows all too well about the effects of exposing youngsters to toxic chemicals. 19 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:45,880 Her 18 and 20-year-old daughters died from inhaling poisonous fumes in the Ardestil company. 20 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:50,400 She now devotes her life to fighting for justice for the victims of the accident and for tighter 21 00:01:50,400 --> 00:02:02,440 controls on dangerous chemicals. 22 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:07,280 This is precisely what a new EU chemicals regulation known as REACH aims to do. 23 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:11,980 If the law had been in place in the early 1990s, data on the dangerous substances contained 24 00:02:11,980 --> 00:02:15,580 in the dye would have been available, along with advice on whether it could be sprayed 25 00:02:15,580 --> 00:02:16,900 or not. 26 00:02:16,900 --> 00:02:20,420 REACH will help prevent similar cases from happening elsewhere in Europe where dangerous 27 00:02:20,420 --> 00:02:25,580 chemicals are currently being used in factories and other industries. 28 00:02:25,580 --> 00:02:29,660 The Spanish textile industry has come a long way since the Ardestil disaster. 29 00:02:29,660 --> 00:02:33,620 At this Madrid fashion show, organised by Greenpeace and a handful of young Spanish 30 00:02:33,620 --> 00:02:38,660 designers, none of the clothes was produced using any of six highly toxic chemicals otherwise 31 00:02:38,700 --> 00:02:43,700 frequently used in textiles. 32 00:02:43,700 --> 00:02:49,460 Spanish clothing giant Mango, which has over 900 shops in 83 countries, supports the campaign 33 00:02:49,460 --> 00:02:52,540 to replace hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives. 34 00:02:52,540 --> 00:02:57,020 Along with other leading companies such as Adidas, Nokia, Dell and Ikea, it has made 35 00:02:57,020 --> 00:03:04,020 a pledge to phase out six of the most dangerous chemicals used in its products. 36 00:03:09,420 --> 00:03:16,420 Substituting dangerous chemicals with less hazardous ones is at the heart of the REACH 37 00:03:17,980 --> 00:03:23,220 regulation. Under the new law, uses of substances of very high concern will have to be authorised, 38 00:03:23,220 --> 00:03:27,220 and eventually these chemicals will be phased out and replaced by safer alternatives. 39 00:03:27,220 --> 00:03:31,900 Mango, which supports REACH, believes its policy of phasing out toxic chemicals will 40 00:03:31,900 --> 00:03:34,740 not lead to higher costs for shoppers. 41 00:03:34,740 --> 00:03:38,940 Studies carried out for the European Commission also show the benefits for human health, dwarfing 42 00:03:38,940 --> 00:03:42,620 the cost to industry by a ratio of almost 10 to 1. 43 00:03:42,620 --> 00:03:49,620 The medical expenses for chemicals related diseases will be less, medicines will not 44 00:03:53,260 --> 00:04:00,260 be needed, we shall not lose working hours and productivity will be better. So the overall 45 00:04:01,180 --> 00:04:08,180 benefits of REACH will by far outweigh the cost to the industry. 46 00:04:10,740 --> 00:04:15,180 The chemicals industry is the third largest manufacturing sector in the EU, employing 47 00:04:15,180 --> 00:04:20,660 1.9 million people in 31,000 companies. But in recent years, its reputation has suffered 48 00:04:20,660 --> 00:04:25,220 as more and more studies have linked hazardous chemicals to falling sperm counts, increases 49 00:04:25,220 --> 00:04:29,660 in breast and testicular cancer, and a host of environmental problems such as soil and 50 00:04:29,660 --> 00:04:33,020 water pollution and the thinning of the ozone layer. 51 00:04:33,020 --> 00:04:40,020 It's true that the image of the chemical industry is not ranking first in public opinions, because 52 00:04:40,420 --> 00:04:46,220 there are fears about chemicals, about the hazards. So if we can demonstrate through 53 00:04:46,220 --> 00:04:53,220 REACH that a well-documented dossier about hazard exposure and risk, and proper risk 54 00:04:54,220 --> 00:05:01,220 management is in place or is improved, we can indeed enhance the confidence in chemicals. 55 00:05:04,820 --> 00:05:09,260 Under REACH, which will replace 40 pieces of existing EU legislation, companies will 56 00:05:09,260 --> 00:05:14,460 have to show that the substances they use or sell are safe. They will also have to provide 57 00:05:14,460 --> 00:05:19,260 a new EU chemicals agency in Helsinki with data on the properties of the substances they 58 00:05:19,300 --> 00:05:24,220 manufacture or import, information which will be provided to other companies downstream 59 00:05:24,220 --> 00:05:29,620 in the supply chain and available to the public on the internet. 60 00:05:29,620 --> 00:05:34,300 We need chemicals. After all, almost everything we use in our daily life is made from, or 61 00:05:34,300 --> 00:05:36,300 contains them. 62 00:05:36,300 --> 00:05:43,300 When we think about chemical pollution, we think about big smokestacks, polluted smokestacks, 63 00:05:43,340 --> 00:05:49,700 and chemical factories exploding. But unfortunately, a lot of the exposure comes also from the 64 00:05:49,700 --> 00:05:56,340 consumer products that we bring home. The pyjamas, the perfumes that we wear, the laptops 65 00:05:56,340 --> 00:06:03,340 that we have to work with, and many of them release hazardous chemicals into the environment. 66 00:06:03,820 --> 00:06:08,620 The problem, as this website created by the European Consumers' Organization, BEUC, shows, 67 00:06:08,620 --> 00:06:12,700 is that we are often unaware of the potentially dangerous chemicals found in the most banal 68 00:06:12,780 --> 00:06:18,420 household items. Soaps may contain parabens, which interfere with the hormonal system, 69 00:06:18,420 --> 00:06:22,980 and towels might contain formaldehyde, which has been classified as carcinogenic, poisonous 70 00:06:22,980 --> 00:06:27,420 and corrosive. Washing-up liquids contain a cocktail of chemicals which can irritate 71 00:06:27,420 --> 00:06:32,540 the eyes, throat and lungs. Bedsheets may contain formaldehyde, and even traces of the 72 00:06:32,540 --> 00:06:38,340 banned pesticide DDT. And although a dangerous softening agent that causes development problems 73 00:06:38,340 --> 00:06:44,500 has been removed from PVC baby toys, other PVC items may still contain it. Most consumers 74 00:06:44,500 --> 00:06:48,700 believe that whatever is on the market must be safe for use, and they expect industry 75 00:06:48,700 --> 00:06:53,980 and authorities to ensure that for them. The problem is that 99% of the chemicals used 76 00:06:53,980 --> 00:06:59,620 in everyday products have never been tested. With so little information available, no wonder 77 00:06:59,620 --> 00:07:03,620 shoppers at this supermarket outside Brussels are anxious about what chemicals are in the 78 00:07:03,620 --> 00:07:07,700 products they buy, and the effects of these substances on them and their children. 79 00:07:34,620 --> 00:07:42,420 Reach won't impose any new labelling requirements on manufacturers, but consumers will, for 80 00:07:42,420 --> 00:07:46,060 the first time, be able to shop safe in the knowledge that the chemicals in the products 81 00:07:46,060 --> 00:07:50,980 they buy have been tested and labelled accordingly, and that the most dangerous substances have 82 00:07:50,980 --> 00:07:55,660 either been banned or will be progressively substituted by safer alternatives. Under the 83 00:07:55,660 --> 00:07:56,620 new regulation...