tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604907734958782081.post3051115257389172769..comments2023-03-31T09:25:02.356-07:00Comments on The Galway Tent Blog: Dirty Little SecretsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604907734958782081.post-84504675075498851892008-11-24T11:23:00.000-08:002008-11-24T11:23:00.000-08:00http://chemicalreaction.org/Unfortunately, the leg...http://chemicalreaction.org/<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, the legislation contains major loopholes. Concessions granted to the big chemicals industry may allow companies which import and manufacture chemicals in volumes below 10 tonnes per year - 60% of chemicals covered by REACH - from the requirement to provide any meaningful safety data.<BR/><BR/>Moreover, REACH will still allow many chemicals that can cause serious health problems, including cancer, birth defects and reproductive illnesses, to continue being used in manufacturing and consumer goods. Even if safer alternatives to those dangerous substances are available, many of these chemicals of very high concern will be allowed onto the market if producers claim that they can ‘adequately control’ them. The approach of adequate control – and safe thresholds - is flawed and premised on a risky gamble, given the unknown effects of chemicals in combination, on vulnerable hormone functions, and on the development of children from the earliest stages of life. Medical associations, consumer groups and innovative businesses across Europe had called for a legal requirement to substitute them with safer alternatives as the minimum necessary measure against hazardous chemicals.<BR/><BR/>The loopholes and provisions for self-regulation contained in the law leave REACH very vulnerable to further manipulation by the chemical industry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-604907734958782081.post-63527250613844762212008-05-16T12:19:00.000-07:002008-05-16T12:19:00.000-07:00Recent evidence has shown alarming evidence of bod...Recent evidence has shown alarming evidence of body<BR/>burdens of chemical contamination in the general population and more<BR/>worryingly shows that newborns are being born with their bodies already<BR/>polluted. <BR/><BR/>http://www.ecomed.org.uk/content/IncineratorHPAResponse.pdf<BR/><BR/><B>This again shows how present regulations are failing to protect the<BR/>public from toxic exposure.</B><BR/><BR/>The BSEM report also highlights important new<BR/>evidence that pollutants can cause genetic changes that can be passed on<BR/>through subsequent generations – the implications of this research are as yet<BR/>unknown but demonstrate how little we understand about the dangers of toxic<BR/>chemicals and just how serious they can be. All these facts should serve as a<BR/>red flag to us all.<BR/><BR/>It is disappointing that the UK Health Protection Agency have not grasped<BR/>these points but this is not surprising as regulators and government bodies<BR/>have rarely been correct about the risks from chemical pollution in the past<BR/>and have usually only acted after considerable harm has been done.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com