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Denmark scraps plan to ban four phthalate plasticizers
ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND SAFETY
mental mandates are impacting the availability of some key ingredients. In the aftermath of the recent financial crisis, suppliers are still cautious about adding capacity and continue to manage their inventory closely, which leaves customers vulnerable to potential stock-outs in the event of supply problems or a spike in demand, the report observes. Providing strategic forecasts to 2019 broken down by pigment type, end use, and geographic region and country, along with details of the latest technology trends, key market drivers and leading suppliers, The Future of High Performance and Specialty Pigments to 2019 is available in pdf form for £3950. Contact: Smithers Rapra, Leatherhead, UK. Tel: +44 1372 802086, Web: www.smithersrapra.com
ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES Denmark scraps plan to ban four phthalate plasticizers
U
nder pressure from the European Commission, the Danish government has stepped back from introducing proposed legislation that would have unilaterally banned four commonly used phthalate plasticizers: DEHP, DBP, DIBP and BBP. The ban was due to come into force from December 2015, but has now been scrapped after the government was advised that a unilateral ban would contravene European Union (EU) rules for chemical registration under the REACH programme. Denmark’s Ministry of the Environment had originally planned to ban the use of the four plasticizers from the end of December 2012, in response to laboratory research
September 2014
suggesting that the additives have endocrine-disrupting properties. It subsequently delayed the ban’s introduction until 2015, after finding that use of the phthalates in PVC products was more widespread in Denmark than it had anticipated, and therefore concluding that manufacturers and retailers required more time to comply. The Danish government was warned from the outset that the proposed ban was likely to breach EU law. It has now accepted that warning and cancelled the ban, though it says it is not giving up on the regulation of phthalates. Instead the environment ministry has indicated that it will now await the conclusion of a current European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) assessment concerning these chemicals, which may result in a common EU regulation. If that is not the outcome, Denmark’s minister for the environment Kirsten Brosbøl says she has already instructed the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to explore whether there could be a new case for a Danish ban. The four phthalates are in fact already undergoing the REACH Authorisation process, which means that, after 21 February 2015, they can only be placed on the EU market for those uses for which an authorization has been granted or for uses that are exempted. The European Council for Plasticisers and Intermediates (ECPI) reports that seven applications covering uses of DEHP and DBP have been submitted. However, no applications for BBP and DIBP have been submitted, so their use in the EU will automatically be phased out by February 2015 in any case. While welcoming the repeal of Denmark’s unilateral ban on the four classified phthalates, the ECPI has asked the Danish EPA to reconsider submitting additional dossiers under REACH on the grounds that this is unnecessary and ‘likely to create more confusion and inefficiencies resulting in increased uncertainty for such an important sector which is already under significant stress’. Contact: European Council for Plasticisers and Intermediates (ECPI), Brussels, Belgium. Tel: + 32 2 676 7260, Web: www.ecpi.org
Additives for Polymers
11
mental mandates are impacting the availability of some key ingredients. In the aftermath of the recent financial crisis, suppliers are still cautious about adding capacity and continue to manage their inventory closely, which leaves customers vulnerable to potential stock-outs in the event of supply problems or a spike in demand, the report observes. Providing strategic forecasts to 2019 broken down by pigment type, end use, and geographic region and country, along with details of the latest technology trends, key market drivers and leading suppliers, The Future of High Performance and Specialty Pigments to 2019 is available in pdf form for £3950. Contact: Smithers Rapra, Leatherhead, UK. Tel: +44 1372 802086, Web: www.smithersrapra.com
ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES Denmark scraps plan to ban four phthalate plasticizers
U
nder pressure from the European Commission, the Danish government has stepped back from introducing proposed legislation that would have unilaterally banned four commonly used phthalate plasticizers: DEHP, DBP, DIBP and BBP. The ban was due to come into force from December 2015, but has now been scrapped after the government was advised that a unilateral ban would contravene European Union (EU) rules for chemical registration under the REACH programme. Denmark’s Ministry of the Environment had originally planned to ban the use of the four plasticizers from the end of December 2012, in response to laboratory research
September 2014
suggesting that the additives have endocrine-disrupting properties. It subsequently delayed the ban’s introduction until 2015, after finding that use of the phthalates in PVC products was more widespread in Denmark than it had anticipated, and therefore concluding that manufacturers and retailers required more time to comply. The Danish government was warned from the outset that the proposed ban was likely to breach EU law. It has now accepted that warning and cancelled the ban, though it says it is not giving up on the regulation of phthalates. Instead the environment ministry has indicated that it will now await the conclusion of a current European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) assessment concerning these chemicals, which may result in a common EU regulation. If that is not the outcome, Denmark’s minister for the environment Kirsten Brosbøl says she has already instructed the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to explore whether there could be a new case for a Danish ban. The four phthalates are in fact already undergoing the REACH Authorisation process, which means that, after 21 February 2015, they can only be placed on the EU market for those uses for which an authorization has been granted or for uses that are exempted. The European Council for Plasticisers and Intermediates (ECPI) reports that seven applications covering uses of DEHP and DBP have been submitted. However, no applications for BBP and DIBP have been submitted, so their use in the EU will automatically be phased out by February 2015 in any case. While welcoming the repeal of Denmark’s unilateral ban on the four classified phthalates, the ECPI has asked the Danish EPA to reconsider submitting additional dossiers under REACH on the grounds that this is unnecessary and ‘likely to create more confusion and inefficiencies resulting in increased uncertainty for such an important sector which is already under significant stress’. Contact: European Council for Plasticisers and Intermediates (ECPI), Brussels, Belgium. Tel: + 32 2 676 7260, Web: www.ecpi.org
Additives for Polymers
11