Safe Chemicals/REACH

Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) initiated a significant change in the way industrial chemicals are regulated in the European Economic Area (EEA). It harmonizes the control of chemicals placed on the European market and replaces a large number of European and national regulations with a single legal framework. One of the major changes established by the REACH regulation is that the burden of proof on chemical safety was shifted from government to industry. EU manufacturers and importers are responsible for gathering information on the properties of their chemical substances, which will allow for their safe handling, and registering the information in a central database run by the REACH regulator, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) based in Helsinki, Finland. The agency manages the databases necessary to operate the system, coordinates the in-depth evaluation of potentially hazardous chemicals, and is building a public database in which consumers and professionals can find hazard information.