Hazardous chemicals found in cosmetics

A pilot enforcement project by ECHA’s Enforcement Forum found that 6% of inspected cosmetic products contained hazardous substances banned under POPs and REACH regulations

01-Nov-2024 - The national enforcement authorities in 13 European Economic Area (EEA) countries checked nearly 4 500 cosmetic products, mainly looking at the ingredients list, for the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), long chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) and related substances, and cyclic ...

EU wants to take tougher action against environmental crime

The commonly defined offenses will reportedly include serious violations of chemical regulations

17-Nov-2023 - (dpa) Serious crimes against the environment are to be punishable with heavy prison sentences and fines throughout the EU in future. Representatives of the governments of the member states and the European Parliament agreed on new rules in Brussels on Thursday to improve the prosecution of ...

ECHA’s investigation finds toxic chemicals present in childcare products

13-Nov-2023 - The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has found that substances causing cancer, genetic mutations or harming reproduction are present in childcare products, such as car seats, bibs and baby changing mats. Its investigation will help the European Commission to prepare an EU-wide restriction to ...

ECHA recommends more transparency in the trade of hazardous chemicals

The European Chemicals Agency is making recommendations for changes to the legal text.

01-Nov-2023 - ECHA’s third report on the operation of the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Regulation shows that the overall workload of implementing the regulation, despite a slight decrease of export notifications, has continued to increase due to the constant addition of new chemicals subject to PIC and the ...

Widespread illegal trade of hazardous chemicals

Global regulations disregarded

12-Jul-2023 - Researchers from Switzerland and China have studied the global trade in highly hazardous chemicals subject to a global treaty – the Rotterdam Convention. The results are sobering: Nearly half of the total trade volume of these chemicals crosses national borders illegally, calling for strong ...

Emissions of banned ozone-destroying chemicals increasing

Loopholes in the Montreal Protocol

05-Apr-2023 - A new analysis has found rapidly increasing emissions between 2010 and 2020 of five ozone-depleting chemicals whose production for most uses had been banned under the Montreal Protocol. The emissions of these five chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, occur in part from leakage during the synthesis of ...

Chemical pollution threatens biodiversity

Scientists say more environmental pollutants should be considered in species protection

20-Jun-2022 - Environmental chemical pollution threatens biodiversity. However, the complexity of this pollution remains insufficiently recognised by decision-makers - this is what international researchers led by Gabriel Sigmund from the University of Vienna and Ksenia Groh from the Swiss Federal Institute of ...

Roadmap to address substances of very high concern complete

Systematic screening of registered substances has been key in identifying new chemicals of concern

05-Feb-2021 - ECHA has today published a brochure summarising the achievements of the SVHC 2020 Roadmap, following its completion. The goal of the SVHC Roadmap was to identify all relevant, currently known substances of very high concern (SVHCs) and include them on the Candidate List by 2020. SVHCs are ...

22 hazardous chemicals added to EU regulation on imports and exports

27-Jul-2020 - Exporters of the substances now have to notify their designated national authority before exporting them. In most cases, consent from the importing country is also needed. In addition, exports from the EU of a series of mercury-containing articles, such as fluorescent lamps, have also been ...

Greater oversight of precursor chemicals at retail level needed to reduce threat from IEDs

16-Nov-2017 - Policymakers' efforts to reduce threats from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) should include greater oversight of precursor chemicals sold at the retail level - especially over the Internet - that terrorists, violent extremists, or criminals use to make homemade explosives, says a new report ...