Environment Law Update: Hazardous substances 3

United Kingdom

Discharges of radioactivity

All radioactive discharges in the UK are regulated under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993. This aims to ensures that radioactivity discharged from establishments such as nuclear licensed sites, universities and hospitals, remains within internationally agreed levels. After publishing a draft UK Strategy for Radioactive Discharges for consultation in June 2000, the Government is now committed to implementing the OSPAR strategy agreed at the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic in 1998. This seeks to reduce the levels of discharges of radioactive substances to ensure that there is no significant rise in concentrations already present in the marine environment. DETR intend to publish the final version of the UK Strategy in spring 2001.
(DETR, December 2000)

GMOs

The Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained use) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000 No 2831), which replace the 1992 Regulations, came into force on 15 November. The new regulations include comprehensive new containment requirements, a standardised risk assessment, an explicit requirement to inactivate all waste containing GMOs and increased public access to information. They do not cover deliberate release into the environment, any product appraisal or consideration of food safety issues.
(SO, October 2000)

Batteries and accumulators

The Batteries and Accumulators Regulations (Containing Dangerous Substances) (Amendment) Regulations (SI 2000 No. 3097) came into force on 18th December 2000. They implement a Commission Directive (98/101/EC) which amends the Council Directive on batteries and accumulators containing certain dangerous substances (91/157/EEC). These amendments to the 1994 Regulations (SI 1994 No. 232) reinforce the restrictions on the heavy metal content of batteries introduced in the 1991 Directive. The new legislation will have a limited impact however, as the use of mercury batteries has fallen sharply since 1991.
(SO, November 2000)

Risks assessment

A report produced by the Inter-departmental Group on Health Risks from Chemicals (IGHRC) has set out a programme of work to improve the way health risks from exposure to chemicals are assessed. The protection of human health from pesticides and industrial chemicals in the workplace, the environment and the home is dependent on an assessment of risks posed by each particular chemical. Such assessments form the basis of regulatory controls to limit exposure. The report examines the uncertainties and limitations in the process of assessing risks to people's health from chemicals. Future proposals outlined in the report include the production of guidance to increase transparency and consistency; the development of computer models for assessing toxicity and arranging courses on specific aspects of risk assessment. Stakeholders are being invited to comment on the report and to work with IGHRC to meet its objectives.
(MRC Institute for Environment and Health, December 2000)

European Union

Priority chemical list

The fourth priority chemicals list has been published in the Official Journal. Under Regulation (EEC) No. 793/93, the European Commission is required to draw up lists of priority substances that require a risk assessment. There are 30 substances in the new list, with one member state being responsible for each. The substances included are those which were in use before pre-marketing testing rules came into force in 1981. The new list brings the total number of substances featured since 1994 to 140.
(OJ L273, 26 October 2000)

Phthalates

Decision 99/815/EC concerning measures prohibiting the placing on the market of toys and childcare articles containing certain phthalates, and intended to be placed in the mouth by children under 3 years, has been further extended to 5 March 2001. This is the fourth time the ban has been extended since it was first agreed in December 1999. The ban is intended to remain in place until a new directive imposing permanent controls is agreed. Opinion as to the form of a directive is divided among EU member countries however, with one group calling for a total ban in toys for children under three, another group preferring stricter labeling and a third group wanting phthalate leaching limits instead. Further developments await the result of on-going scientific studies.
(OJ L 306, 7 December 2000)

International

Organic pollutants

A United Nations Environment Programme, formally known as the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC 5), has reached an agreement for a global treaty to reduce or eliminate twelve of the most toxic persistent organic pollutants (POPS) known, including pesticides and industrial chemicals. The treaty aims to eliminate eight of the POPs, to severely limit DDT, and to work towards a gradual elimination of PCBs and two by-products of combustion and industrial processes dioxins and furans. Under the treaty, a review committee will consider alternatives for the banned chemicals, based on scientific findings. The Programme was negotiated by 122 countries in Johannesburg in December 2000. The UN hopes the treaty will be ready for signing in Stockholm in May 2001. The treaty will only enter into force when it has been ratified by at least 50 countries, which could take several years.
(Lycos New Release, December 11, 2000)