World Without Chemicals?

Europe, the birthplace of many a chemical and the world’s largest chemical producer today, has discovered a new hate-filled dislike for chemicals. Chemicals which impact our daily lives in products from toothbrush to condom are soon going to be treated as poisons, through a draconian provision known by the angelic acronym of REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals), which is poised to be adopted by the end of this year. Under REACH expected to come into force in April 2007, the onus of proving that a chemical is safe rests with the industry. This marks a paradigm shift from the present regime in which a chemical is deemed safe unless a public regulatory body proves it otherwise.

REACH would require manufacturers and traders to produce tons and tons of documentation and the Helsinki based European Chemical Agency (ECHA) will be responsible for the technical, scientific and administrative aspects of REACH. Industry is also required to withdraw chemicals that cannot be proved as benign and replace them with safer substitutes. Implementing REACH is not going to be cheap and it is estimated to cost the industry 5 million Euros over a ten year period. The prophets of doom ought to remember that the much maligned pesticide DDT saved millions of lives and was responsible for eradicating malaria from Europe and North America. A world without chemicals would not be worth living in!