§ Mr. LazarowiczTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact on human health of man-made chemicals found in household goods, with particular reference to(a) perfluorinated compounds, (b) phthalates, (c) phenolic compounds and (d) brominated flame retardants; and what measures the Government plans to protect human health against the dangers posed by such chemicals. [159467]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Existing Substances Regulation (ESR) is European-wide legislation which required any manufacturer or importer of a chemical into the European Union to submit data to the European Commission. Substances were prioritised and have undergone comprehensive risk assessment, addressing both the human health and the environmental hazards and risks. Several chemicals from the phthalate, phenolic compounds, and brominated fire retardant groupings have been assessed, or are currently undergoing risk assessment. Those that have been agreed by Member States are publicly available on the website of the European Chemicals Bureau at http://ecb.jrc.it/existing-chemicals). In a number of cases, cross-European marketing and use restrictions have been introduced as a result of these assessments.
Following the voluntary withdrawal from the market by the major producer of perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS), a hazard assessment of this chemical was undertaken under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Coperation and Development (OECD);this is available on the OECD website at www.oecd.org/dataoecd/23/18/2382880.pdf. This is now being followed up by the United Kingdom with a risk reduction strategy which aims to look at the remaining uses of PFOS and how they can be phased out.
In addition, information on the hazardous properties and the safe use of chemicals in household goods is governed by the Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for supply) Regulations 2002. These Regulations require that manufacturers must assess a chemical product for its health effects. If dangerous, the 1058W product must be labelled with a warning symbol and phrases indicating the dangers. The particular chemical(s) which cause the product to be classified must be named on the label. The Regulations also require that all potentially dangerous chemicals supplied to the public must be in packaging that is properly labelled and contains warnings about the potential hazards and giving advice on suitable precautions.
Other regulations for protecting the consumer are the Department of Trade and Industry's General Product Safety Regulations 1994 (GPSR), which implement the EC General Products Safety Directive (92159/EEC) and apply to all consumer products (or aspects of those products) that are not covered by specific European safety legislation. The GPSR requires manufacturers to ensure that products present no risk or only minimal risk compatible with the product's use. In other words, producers must first take steps to reduce the hazard as far as possible, then warn about any residual hazard(s) and give advice about the precautions that consumers should take when using the product.