Pretty much anything you buy - whether it's soap or a computer, perfume or paints - will contain a mixture of substances produced in a chemical factory. Chemicals are used for all kinds of reasons such as to smell nice or to kill germs.


The uncomfortable truth is, more and more research is suggesting that some chemicals are threatening our health with a new kind of pollution that contaminates the bodies of us and our families. What are the health threats?

New pan-European Chemicals legislation - REACH

Read a presentation about the implementation of REACH here

Following an almost nine year long discussion on the European Chemicals policy reform, the new law, REACH, was finally approved on 18 December 2006. REACH, which stands for Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals, is a first modest step by the European Union towards a new approach to chemicals management. It  promises to put an end to public ignorance about the health and environmental effects of chemicals, many of them incorporated in everyday products, and phase out the most hazardous chemicals from the market if safer alternatives are available (the substitution principle).

Photo credit: BUND

Under REACH, companies will have to provide safety data for large volume chemicals that they produce or import into Europe, while the use of most dangerous ones (such as the ones causing cancer, infertilities or that persist in our bodies or the environment) will have to be authorized by the European Commission.

REACH will cover 30,000 of the 100,000 chemicals available on the EU market and will come into force in June 2007. As a regulation, it will have direct effect in all 27 member states as well as on chemicals and articled imported into the EU.

Unfortunately, REACH also contains many loopholes which will still allow many hazardous chemicals to continue being used in manufacturing and consumer goods. Additional concessions exempt companies which import and manufacture chemicals in volumes below 10 tonnes a year - 60% of chemicals covered by REACH - from the requirement to provide any meaningful safety data. Moreover, many decisions have been postponed to the implementation and future revisions of the law. See timeline

Will REACH deliver?
The loopholes and provisions for self-regulation contained in the law leave REACH very vulnerable to further manipulation by the chemical industry. There remains plenty of room for the chemical industry to manoeuvre around the loopholes to keep hazardous substances on the market, even if safer alternatives exist. The new EU Chemicals Agency in Helsinki will have to be closely monitored to ensure that REACH can deliver. Without the necessary support, hazardous chemicals will continue to contaminate wildlife, our homes and our bodies, and REACH will prove a failure.

This is why in the future we will need to keep careful watch over how the law is put into practice and to ensure that it delivers promised benefits to human health and environment. We will keep informing you on how you can press for change and use REACH to ensure better protection from toxic chemicals for you, your family and your environment.

Read about what's happening with REACH in 2008

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