{"id":2421,"date":"2012-10-02T11:06:04","date_gmt":"2012-10-02T16:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/nanotechnology\/?p=2421"},"modified":"2014-03-25T10:37:27","modified_gmt":"2014-03-25T15:37:27","slug":"despite-tsca-like-law-there-is-movement-down-under-on-chemical-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2012\/10\/02\/despite-tsca-like-law-there-is-movement-down-under-on-chemical-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite TSCA-like law, there is movement down under on chemical safety"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alissa Sasso is a Chemicals Policy Fellow.<\/em><\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s chemical law, dating back to 1989<\/a>, in many ways resembles the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA).\u00a0 \u00a0Australia, however, has begun taking steps to address tens of thousands of existing chemicals at a scale that has not been taken in the U.S. \u00a0These steps come in the wake of government and stakeholder recognition that Australia\u2019s TSCA-like approach to chemicals management is inadequate and in need of revision.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Accelerated assessment of existing chemicals. \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The primary federal body in Australia charged with assessing the safety of industrial chemicals is the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme<\/a> (NICNAS). \u00a0In June, NICNAS released a list of 3,000 priority chemicals for assessment<\/a>. \u00a0These \u201cStage One\u201d priority chemicals are the first group on the Australian Inventory of Chemical Substances (AICS) to be addressed under the Multi-tiered Assessment and Prioritization (IMAP) scheme<\/a>. \u00a0IMAP was developed by NICNAS to address concerns expressed by stakeholders over the slow progress in assessing the approximately 39,000 existing chemicals on the AICS<\/a>.\u00a0 IMAP assessment of the Stage One chemicals began on July 1 and will run for 4 years, with review of 800 of the Stage One chemicals slated to be completed by the end of 2013. \u00a0In the final year of the assessment of Stage One chemicals, an external review will be conducted<\/a> to identify the best way to proceed with the remaining existing chemicals on the inventory.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The criteria for inclusion in Stage One of IMAP was based on \u201ccharacteristics agreed by stakeholders\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 for early concern and include\u00a0 \u201cchemicals for which NICNAS holds exposure data, chemicals identified as a concern for which action has been taken overseas, and chemicals detected in international studies analyzing chemicals present in the blood of babies\u2019 umbilical cords.\u201d \u00a0The assessment outcomes<\/a> will categorize chemicals as:\u00a0 (a) posing no \u201cunreasonable risk\u201d \u2013 a term that appears in Australia\u2019s main chemical safety law<\/a> and, of course, Tormation in TSCA, (b) requiring safety and risk management procedures, or (c) requiring a more in-depth assessment to determine their risk.\u00a0 The results of the assessments will be published on the NICNAS website<\/a> periodically to \u201cincrease chemical information flow and enhance chemical management.\u201d<\/p>\n

Review of the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme. \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>In June, the Australian government also published a review of NICNAS<\/a> to identify changes needed to \u201cenhance both the competitiveness of the Australian chemical industry and public health and environmental outcomes.\u201d\u00a0 The discussion paper highlighted many problems within the regulatory framework of NICNAS \u2013 which show remarkable overlap with deficiencies identified under TSCA<\/a>.\u00a0 For example:<\/p>\n