Moza Al Falasi’s Post

First joint report from the European Environment Agency and the European Chemicals Agency is now out! Benchmarking progress towards safe chemicals in Europe - more work is still needed to reduce the impact of harmful substances on human health and the environment. Congratulations to the EEA-ECHA team, in particular my EEA colleague Jeanne Vuaille who led from our side. Key findings - Transition towards safer and more sustainable chemicals is progressing in some areas while in others it is just getting started. - Action by authorities and industry has supported minimising and controlling the risks from several groups of hazardous chemicals. - Little evidence of progress towards eliminating substances of concern from waste and secondary materials. This is a barrier to the transition towards a more circular economy. - Emissions of certain chemicals to water and air have fallen following specific EU regulations and international actions. - Further measures are needed to reach concentration levels that are not harmful for human health and the environment. - Emissions from industry still lead to major costs in terms of damages to human and ecosystem health. - Human biomonitoring offers the opportunity to understand human health risks associated with chemical pollution. - Key tool to measure the effectiveness of chemicals legislation in protecting human health and the environment. 

Two of the EU's official agencies, the European Environment Agency (EEA) and ECHA, the European Chemicals Agency have joined forces to investigate the transition towards safer and more sustainable chemicals. We aren't surprised to learn that while the transition is progressing in some areas, in others it is just beginning. The report found that the overall use of the most harmful chemicals (in particular those that are carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic) is still growing but more slowly than the overall chemicals market growth. Slower growth is still growth. We need to do better. Circa's products are safer and more sustainable by design. Our green solvent Cyrene can replace harmful, fossil-based solvents, for example. #greenchemistry #earthday

In Europe we need to continue to do more to reduce the risk posed by chemicals to both human health and the health of our environment. This is the message coming from an assessment published today jointly by our team here in the European Environment Agency and our colleagues in the European Chemicals Agency, as part of the work underpinning the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. While recognising that chemicals are essential to our society, we also need to move towards a situation where chemicals are designed, produced, and used in a safe and, very importantly, a sustainable way. The assessment finds that ongoing regulation of chemicals has resulted in better management of chemicals risk, but we are still in a situation where use of the most harmful substances is still increasing in the EU. These most harmful chemicals which are those which are carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic to reproduction. The assessment clearly shows that chemicals are present at levels which present a potential risk in both our environment (e.g. water, soil) and in human bodies (as demonstrated by the recent EEA briefing on bisphenol A in human - https://lnkd.in/eycRykk9 ). The presence of harmful chemicals in products is also presenting a barrier to a more circular economy as materials are more problematic to recycle into safe products. The assessment is called the 'EU Indicator Framework for Chemicals' and is composed of i) a web-based indicator dashboard which presents trends and knowledge on a range of chemical indicators and ii) an accompanying synthesis report which brings together the information from the dashboard to identify the overall key messages and knowledge gaps. The online dashboard of chemical indicators which underpins this assessment is available here: https://lnkd.in/eq6rcrvN . The synthesis report can also be access from the same website. From the EEA perspective, thanks to everyone in my team and the wider Agency who contributed to the assessment, and in particular Jeanne Vuaille who was leading the project for EEA. The collaboration with our colleagues in ECHA was also excellent and we look forward to future projects!

The European Environment Agency and ECHA recently published a report on transitioning towards safer and more sustainable chemicals. Click on the link below for more information and to read the report. https://lnkd.in/g7EP4T4T #regulation #regulatoryconsultancy #saferchemicals

Excellent insight from David Hart

Important and insightful. And it's worth reinforcing that this will apply to emerging supply chains too: #batteries, #electrolysers, #sustainablefuels and many other areas where the supply chains, manufacturing techniques and recycling issues are still being figured out. ERM works a lot in these emerging areas - do get in touch if you have questions or thoughts. Sébastien Haye Tom Houghton Michael Dolman

Many companies may mistakenly believe the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive’s (CSRD) Chemical Pollution requirements do not apply to them. However, the new disclosures cover both the direct and indirect use, through raw materials, of chemicals and minerals. Companies must act now to get ready since chemical pollution poses an equal, if not higher, risk than other sustainability topics. Our article “CSRD’s Chemical Pollution requirements are taking companies off-guard” identifies and explores eight steps companies must take to prepare: - Build and evolve an implementation plan - Undertake CSRD-aligned sampling and measurements  - Deploy experts to develop mass balance calculations - Leverage existing company- and external databases for safety data sheets     - Identify and use industry-specific public data - Create a sampling and testing plan to fill in gaps - Develop calculation methodologies for chemical emissions to air, water, and soil - Create an overall data management plan with strong governance and internal controls  Access it here: https://lnkd.in/gJmnTrse #CSRD #Chemicalpollution #COP16 Ramesh Narasimhan Susan Angyal, Linda-Jean Cockcroft

No one likes to be negatively surprised! Please check this out and make sure you are thinking about all of your impacts and while there are 8 steps listed here, the one immediately following is pre-assurance and independent third-party assurance!

Da #EuropeanEnvironmentAgency The EU has increased the scrutiny of industrial #chemicals, uncovering the persistent use of harmful substances like #carcinogens and #hormone #disruptors, continue to linger in our products and environment, threatening both human well-being and the ecosystems we rely on. While progress has been made in regulating emissions and minimising risks, the need to #accelerate the #transition to safer, #sustainable #alternatives has never been more urgent.

It's time for companies to act now, as chemical pollution poses an equal, if not greater, risk than other sustainability issues. This article by ERM ‘CSRD’s Chemical Pollution Requirements Are Taking Companies Off-Guard’, explores eight crucial steps businesses must take to prepare. Linda-Jean Cockcroft, who co-authored the article, will be presenting on this topic tomorrow at the Key Regulatory Updates Europe 2024 conference in Brussels, organised by Chemical Watch news & events by Enhesa. Don’t miss her presentation on “Chemical pollutants and EU sustainability”, on how sustainability reporting, along with product stewardship and regulatory affairs, play critical roles in shaping a cleaner, more transparent future for reporting companies. #RegulatoryUpdates #KeyRegUpdatesEU24  #sustainability #chemicalindustry