A group of scientists have called for a new approach to how safety standards are set for chemicals in Europe.
They argue that under the current system while individual chemicals may conform to safety standards, the actual impact of chemicals on people and the environment could be greater than regulations can take into account.
The authors of a new policy brief published in Science, led by Thomas Backhaus, a professor at the University of Gothenburg, argue that the Europe Union should incorporate a ‘mixture allocation factor’ into future versions of the EU’s REACH chemical regulations, which are currently being revised by the European Commission.
“Chemical safety cannot be guaranteed by assessing substances one by one,” Backhaus said. “We urgently need a system that acknowledges that we live in the presence of complex mixtures.” The team of authors argue that the concentration addition principle is a better way to measure the combined effects of multiple chemicals.
The idea is that each chemical occupies a fraction of an overall “risk cup.” The cup represents the total amount of chemical pressure that humans or ecosystems can safely tolerate. By adjusting the fraction that each substance may contribute, regulators ought to try to ensure this cup never overflows.
The researchers said that this strategy would not penalise manufacturers of low-risk chemicals, because only the substances that dominate risk would face stricter control measures or emission reductions, which they said would enable more realistic protection without too much bureaucracy.
As policymakers in the EU undertake a revision of REACH, they should incorporate a mixture allocation factor “to enable more realistic chemical management and create incentives for safe and sustainable innovation without imposing undue administrative burdens,” the paper says.
The European Commission’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability has already recognized the need for such a mechanism, and several EU Member States – including Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Luxembourg – support the inclusion of a mixture allocation factor in REACH, the researchers said.
“It’s time chemical risk management catches up with what biology and environmental science have long shown,” Backhaus says. “A more mixture-aware REACH would improve the protection of both, human health as well as the environment, while supporting innovation in chemical industry.”
Further reading on Europe's chemical industry
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