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Safer chemicals within REACH

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Subido el 19 de septiembre de 2007 por EducaMadrid

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New EU rules for the chemical industry -- the REACH package -- are set to improve our health and protect the environment. Obliging companies to register and provide information on the chemicals they use should enable public authorities to identify their properties more quickly and accurately. Particularly severe on toxic products, the new rules will encourage the European chemicals industry to develop new substances that are less harmful for people and the environment. As a result, the sector itself should also gain a lead in innovative and sustainable technologies.

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Cosentina, a small town nestled in the hills between Valencia and Alicante, provides a 00:00:00
poignant reminder of the potential dangers of the chemicals we take for granted in our 00:00:06
everyday lives. In 1992, a textile company called Ardestil instructed its workers to 00:00:10
spray a dye stuff, which was designed to be applied by a roller. This may sound like a 00:00:15
minor departure from normal practice, but it had disastrous consequences. When the workers 00:00:20
in this factory sprayed the dye, its particles filled the air like fog. Six young employees 00:00:26
later died from having inhaled the toxic substance, and 80 more contracted serious lung diseases. 00:00:31
One of the innocent victims was the daughter of Amparo Pascual, who now acts as spokeswoman 00:00:37
for the survivors of the accident. 00:00:42
In 2003, a Spanish court ruled that Ardestil had used dangerous chemicals in its factory 00:00:44
and had failed to show its workers how to handle them. In addition, it concluded that 00:00:58
the serious lung damage suffered by the workers was directly related to the lack of preventative 00:01:02
measures and exposure to a cocktail of chemicals. Pascual campaigns with other victims and relatives 00:01:07
such as Chelo Ragues to prevent a repeat of the Ardestil tragedy. 00:01:14
Ragues knows all too well about the effects of exposing youngsters to toxic chemicals. 00:01:36
Her 18 and 20-year-old daughters died from inhaling poisonous fumes in the Ardestil company. 00:01:40
She now devotes her life to fighting for justice for the victims of the accident and for tighter 00:01:46
controls on dangerous chemicals. 00:01:50
This is precisely what a new EU chemicals regulation known as REACH aims to do. If the 00:02:02
law had been in place in the early 1990s, data on the dangerous substances contained 00:02:07
in the dye would have been available, along with advice on whether it could be sprayed 00:02:12
or not. REACH will help prevent similar cases from happening elsewhere in Europe where dangerous 00:02:15
chemicals are currently being used in factories and other industries. 00:02:20
The Spanish textile industry has come a long way since the Ardestil disaster. At this Madrid 00:02:25
fashion show, organized by Greenpeace and a handful of young Spanish designers, none 00:02:30
of the clothes was produced using any of six highly toxic chemicals otherwise frequently 00:02:34
used in textiles. 00:02:39
Spanish clothing giant Mango, which has over 900 shops in 83 countries, supports the campaign 00:02:43
to replace hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives. Along with other leading companies 00:02:49
such as Adidas, Nokia, Dell and Ikea, it has made a pledge to phase out six of the most 00:02:53
dangerous chemicals used in its products. 00:02:58
Substituting dangerous chemicals with less hazardous ones is at the heart of the REACH 00:03:03
regulation. Under the new law, uses of substances of very high concern will have to be authorized, 00:03:17
and eventually these chemicals will be phased out and replaced by safer alternatives. Mango, 00:03:23
which supports REACH, believes its policy of phasing out toxic chemicals will not lead 00:03:28
to higher costs for shoppers. Studies carried out for the European Commission also show 00:03:32
the benefits for human health, dwarfing the cost to industry by a ratio of almost ten 00:03:36
to one. 00:03:41
The medical expenses for chemicals-related diseases will be less. Medicines will not 00:03:42
be needed. We shall not lose working hours, and productivity will be better. So there 00:03:53
is no doubt that the overall benefits of REACH will by far outweigh the cost to the industry. 00:04:02
The chemicals industry is the third largest manufacturing sector in the EU, employing 00:04:10
1.9 million people in 31,000 companies. But in recent years, its reputation has suffered 00:04:15
as more and more studies have linked hazardous chemicals to falling sperm counts, increases 00:04:20
in breast and testicular cancer, and a host of environmental problems such as soil and 00:04:25
water pollution and the thinning of the ozone layer. 00:04:29
It's true that the image of the chemical industry is not ranking first in public opinions, because 00:04:33
there are fears about chemicals, about the hazards. So if we can demonstrate through 00:04:40
REACH that a well-documented dossier about hazard exposure and risk, and proper risk 00:04:46
management is in place or is improved, we can indeed enhance the confidence in chemicals. 00:04:54
Under REACH, which will replace 40 pieces of existing EU legislation, companies will 00:05:04
have to show that the substances they use or sell are safe. They will also have to provide 00:05:09
a new EU chemicals agency in Helsinki with data on the properties of the substances they 00:05:14
manufacture or import, information which will be provided to other companies downstream 00:05:19
in the supply chain and available to the public on the internet. 00:05:24
We need chemicals. After all, almost everything we use in our daily life is made from, or 00:05:29
contains them. 00:05:34
When we think about chemical pollution, we think about big smokestacks, polluted smokestacks, 00:05:36
and chemical factories exploding. But unfortunately, a lot of the exposure comes also from the 00:05:43
consumer products that we bring home. The pyjamas, the perfumes that we wear, the laptops 00:05:49
that we have to work with, and many of them release hazardous chemicals into the environment. 00:05:56
The problem, as this website created by the European Consumers' Organization, BEUC, shows, 00:06:03
is that we are often unaware of the potentially dangerous chemicals found in the most banal 00:06:08
household items. Soaps may contain parabens, which interfere with the hormonal system, 00:06:12
and towels might contain formaldehyde, which has been classified as carcinogenic, poisonous, 00:06:18
and corrosive. Washing-up liquids contain a cocktail of chemicals which can irritate 00:06:23
the eyes, throat, and lungs. Bedsheets may contain formaldehyde, and even traces of the 00:06:27
banned pesticide DDT. And although a dangerous softening agent that causes development problems 00:06:32
has been removed from PVC baby toys, other PVC items may still contain it. Most consumers 00:06:38
believe that whatever is on the market must be safe for use, and they expect industry 00:06:44
and authorities to ensure that for them. The problem is that 99% of the chemicals used 00:06:48
in everyday products have never been tested. With so little information available, no wonder 00:06:54
shoppers at this supermarket outside Brussels are anxious about what chemicals are in the 00:06:59
products they buy, and the effects of these substances on them and their children. 00:07:03
Reach won't impose any new labelling requirements on manufacturers, but consumers will, for 00:07:34
the first time, be able to shop safe in the knowledge that the chemicals in the products 00:07:42
they buy have been tested and labelled accordingly, and that the most dangerous substances have 00:07:46
either been banned or will be progressively substituted by safer alternatives. Under the 00:07:51
new regulation, better human health, a safer environment, and a more sustainable European 00:07:55
chemical industry are all within our reach. 00:08:01
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Idioma/s:
en
Niveles educativos:
▼ Mostrar / ocultar niveles
      • Nivel Intermedio
Autor/es:
The European Union
Subido por:
EducaMadrid
Licencia:
Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada
Visualizaciones:
670
Fecha:
19 de septiembre de 2007 - 10:31
Visibilidad:
Público
Enlace Relacionado:
European Commission
Duración:
08′ 05″
Relación de aspecto:
4:3 Hasta 2009 fue el estándar utilizado en la televisión PAL; muchas pantallas de ordenador y televisores usan este estándar, erróneamente llamado cuadrado, cuando en la realidad es rectangular o wide.
Resolución:
448x336 píxeles
Tamaño:
18.97 MBytes

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