Correspondence about Chemicals
Letter to the European Commission about the misuse of aminopyralid 2008
Letter to the European Commission about the safety of PPD used in hair dyes 2006
Response from Public Heath Commissioner
Response from Enterprise and Industry Commisioner
Letter to the British government about failing to meet the EU’s styrene safety controls 2005
REACH
The legislative proposals known as REACH - Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals - provided an opportunity to introduce strict guidelines controlling toxic chemicals. The Greens submitted amendments designed to:
- ensure that an authorisation for the use of "chemicals of very high concern" should only be granted if no safer alternative is available and the use is essential to society. It is vital that the substitution principle is made mandatory.
- ensure that the 20,000 chemicals which are produced in volumes of 1-10 tonnes per annum are subject to the full Chemical Safety Report requirements.
- introduce independent quality controls for industry to guarantee the reliability of the information provided.
- ensure that imported articles containing chemicals have the same information requirements as those made in the EU.
- give the public and consumers a right to know about the chemicals in products they are buying and using, by improving procedures on access to information throughout the supply chain.
However, the final legislation was severely watered down as a result of industry lobbying. Caroline also campaigned for amendments to the legislation that would ensure any environmental benefits were not off set by a great increase in animal testing as part of the regulatory regime.
Letter to the British government about animal testing and REACH 2005
Letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair about voting on REACH at the Council of Ministers 2005
