[Pharmwaste] Not that Innocent - comparison of Canadian, EU and US policies on industrial chemicals

[DeBiasi,Deborah]

http://www.precaution.org/lib/us_canada_eu_chemicals_policies.070404.pdf

Not That Innocent

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CANADIAN, EUROPEAN UNION
AND UNITED STATES POLICIES ON INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS

RICHARD A. DENISON, PH.D.
Senior Scientist, Health Program, Environmental Defense
Washington, DC USA
In cooperation with Pollution Probe

April 2007

An excerpt:

"For decades, our policies toward such chemicals have effectively presumed them to be
safe, despite the dearth of data available to demonstrate either their safety or adverse
impacts. Today there is increasing evidence that certain of these chemicals play a role
in human disease and environmental impacts.

These factors the widespread presence of chemicals in humans and the environment,
the growing evidence that some of them can cause harm, and the inability of our
policies to have predicted or prevented such impacts.have lent urgency to calls for
major reforms in industrial chemicals policies worldwide. A sea change is taking place,
driven by a growing recognition that existing policies have failed to effectively identify
chemicals of concern, to manage their risks, and to facilitate the needed shift toward
development and use of safer chemicals.

For the last several decades, government policies have granted the tens of thousands of
industrial chemicals already in commerce a strong .presumption of innocence.. In the
absence of clear evidence of harm, companies have largely been free to produce and
use such chemicals as they.ve seen fit. These policies contrast sharply with the
approach closer to presumed guilty until proven innocent adopted for other
classes of chemicals such as pharmaceuticals and pesticides. For these substances,
producers have the burden of providing information to government deemed sufficient to
demonstrate their safety, at least when used as intended."




Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email:   dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Office of Water Permit Programs
Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program
Mail:          P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218 (NEW!)
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219
PH:         804-698-4028
FAX:      804-698-4032

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