The European Commission has pledged to put a stop to the export of chemicals that are illegal to use in Europe, as part of their chemical sustainability strategy.
The proposal, one of many that are part of the EU’s Green Deal, is aimed to encourage the innovate production of sustainable and safe chemicals by removing the incentive for chemical suppliers to export banned substances to countries with laxer rules on hazardous chemical use.
These proposals will help to ensure that the production and use of chemicals protect our health and our environment, according to a European Commission press release.
This proposal is not set to affect the UK, as it will come into effect after the end of the transition period.
The aim is to fix a concern with chemical exporters, where banned chemicals for use in products such as pesticides have been exported to countries with weaker regulations, where they pose a major health risk.
The banned chemicals could cause potentially dangerous health hazards, such as endocrine disruption (chemical effects on human hormonal systems), reproductive failure or cancer.
As well as the effects on humans directly, there are negative potential effects on the ecosystems of the countries they are exported to, such as contaminating groundwaters and poisoning animals, fish and bees.
As well as endocrine disrupters, the proposals will also ban per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, which are used in foam-based fire extinguishers, unless they can be proven to be “essential for society”.