Chemicals: Health Hazards

(asked on 21st June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2021 to Question 14143 on Chemicals: Health Hazards, if he will take steps to (a) introduce hazard-based protection measures for reducing exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that are set out in the EU’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, (b) update regulatory information requirements to allow the identification of endocrine disruptors under REACH and other relevant legislation, (c) amend REACH Article 57 to add EDCs to the list of substances of very high concern and (d) phase out EDCs from consumer products.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 24th June 2021

The UK Government's goal is to enhance protections to human health and the environment, while enabling economic growth through the safe management, production and disposal of chemicals.

The identification of intrinsic chemical hazards is already a principal requirement of the classification, labelling and packaging regulation (CLP). The hazard classes in CLP classify physical, health and environmental hazards. Endocrine disrupting properties are not captured by a specific CLP hazard class, however human health endocrine disrupting properties are closely linked to existing CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic to reproduction) hazard classes.


Under Article 57 of REACH, endocrine disrupting properties can already be used to demonstrate that the substance is of 'equivalent level of concern' to be identified as a Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC). SVHC identification is the first step in making a substance subject to authorisation - controls that limit the use of the most hazardous substances.

The Government is committed to protecting consumers from unsafe products. Legislation is in place to require that manufacturers only place safe products on the market and take action where they identify a safety issue with products already on the market.

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