EU to test safety of chemicals in household goods

Plans to test the safety of tens of thousands of chemicals in everyday goods were unveiled yesterday when the European Commission launched draft legislation to protect citizens from toxic and dangerous substances.

Thousands of commonly used substances have never been tested. The law would require all businesses that import or make more than one ton a year of a chemical to register safety information on a central database. Substances produced in great quantity or deemed of greater risk would be evaluated.

Chemicals deemed particularly dangerous to humans or the environment would need authorisation before use. The Commission estimated the direct costs to the chemicals industry would be ¤2.3bn (£1.6bn) over 11 years.

Margot Wallstrom, the European commissioner for the environment, said adequate safety data, including that on long-term effects, was available for only about 3 per cent of high-production chemicals. They were increasingly "washing up in places where they don't belong", she added. Labour's environment spokesman in the European Parliament, David Bowe, said: "Underneath your kitchen sink, products including washing powders, stain removers and detergents contain cocktails of chemicals, the effects of which are largely unknown. Few of the 30,000 chemicals used in everyday consumer goods have been adequately assessed for safety and the risks to humans and environmental health may be considerable."

Data obtained in testing would be shared, which would, the Commission said, reduce the need for animal testing.

The Reach (registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals) proposal has already been subject to fierce lobbying during the public consultation and drafting phases. Campaigners warned that potentially toxic and carcinogenic chemicals were accumulating in the environment and in the human body. The chemicals industries said the proposal would reduce European GDP by 2 to 3 per cent over a decade.

The proposal will need the approval of the Parliament and the council of ministers if it is to become law. One commissioner said there was "no chance" the proposal would become law before the parliamentary elections next summer.