Environmentalists and industry criticize EU chemical bill

November 23, 2005

A new European Union (EU) law has riled the environmental community for being too weak, as well as the chemical industry for being too strong. The Registration, Evaluation and Authorization for Chemical (REACH) was approved by the European Parliament last week by a vote of 407 to 155. Under the law, companies must register up to 30,000 chemicals and provide information on potential hazards.

Environmental groups heralded the bill as an important step, but they regretted that thousands of chemicals were exempted. The European Chemical Industry Council said it was disappointed with elements of the package, claiming the vote reflects a misunderstanding of the substances of concern can be safely handled and used.

It’s not immediately clear how this will affect the electronics industry, though the law is likely to identify hazardous chemicals beyond the RoHS six. The new rules could be in place as early as next year.

Posted by Rob Spiegel on November 23, 2005 | Comments (0)

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