Questions raised about chemical safety in the UK post-Brexit

Information on up to two thirds of the chemicals ‘grandfathered’ into the UK chemicals regulatory regime after Brexit could be out of date, according to data provided to Ocki by the European Chemicals Agency (Echa).

In spite of this, the UK government is currently pushing through legislation that will delay by three years the deadlines by which companies have to update the information on the hazards, uses and risks of substances they place on the market, under a regulation known as UK REACH (see box). This means data on all substances that need to be registered will not be submitted until between 2026 and 2030. The proposed regulatory revision also gives the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) up until 2035 to check if the information submitted by the last deadline complies with the legislation. 

Saving costs for businesses

According to the UK government’s impact assessment on the proposed legislation, the main reason for putting off the deadlines is to save businesses costs. These costs are associated with acquiring the data on substances’ hazards and uses, that is submitted to HSE in what are known as registration dossiers. In an effort to reduce these costs, the government is working with industry to develop a different model to the one used in the EU for collecting the information that’s needed to determine the risks associated with the use of chemicals in products.

The impact assessment notes that the absence of data could impact on the ability of the HSE to carry out some regulatory processes, but the government is confident these impacts will not be direct or significant. However, it provides no evidence to support this conclusion. HSE told Ocki that had not assessed how up-to-date the REACH registration dossiers grandfathered into the UK regime for REACH are.

It added: "We need to continue to be assured industry is managing these substances adequately and to identify situations where it may be appropriate to further probe about possible risks in Great Britain to people’s health or the environment." It is not clear where that assurance is coming from. Some limited information on chemical hazards is publicly available.

In a recent Commons debate on the proposed legislation, Rebecca Pow, Parliamentary under-secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs said the proposed delay would not affect the key principles of UK REACH, and the regime would continue to provide the highest levels of protection of human health and the environment.

But it is unclear how it will achieve “the highest levels” without access to the latest information on the safety of substances. Ocki asked HSE how it reached the conclusion that REACH dossiers will still be useful over the period of the extended submission deadlines, but it did not respond to this question. 

Two-thirds of UK dossiers have been updated in the EU

According to the UK’s list of ‘grandfathered’ substances, 4,045 chemicals with EU REACH registrations were transferred prior to the 1 July 2021 deadline. From a search of Echa’s database, these substances actually generated over 4,705 results. Of these, 3,079 have been updated since the 1 July 2021 deadline. 

Efforts to update safety information in EU REACH dossiers has increased in recent years as part of an industry-Echa initiative and driven by legislation introduced because of concerns about the quality of original dossiers. It appears that the UK authorities do not have access to a lot of the new information generated.

Commons debate

In the Commons debate, Ms Pow said: “We are working with industry and non-governmental organisation stakeholders to find a solution that will reduce the costs associated with obtaining hazard information while still ensuring that they are responsible for the safe use of chemicals throughout the supply chain. The model we are developing aims to reduce the need for businesses to access or obtain expensive EU REACH data packages and will place more emphasis on improving our understanding of the uses and exposure of chemicals in the Great Britain context – that is, on making it much more specific to our market and needs.”

Also speaking at the Commons hearing, Ruth Jones, shadow minister, environment, food and rural affairs, said: “The vital principle of ‘no data, no market’ which lies at the heart of good chemicals regulation, continues to get kicked down the road, increasing the risk of unsafe or inadequately assessed chemicals on the market. …As the Statutory Instrument makes clear, on REACH and chemicals, they are missing in action at present.”

She asked the minister to give assurances: that the new model for registering substances in the UK could be delivered within the current timeframes; about the potential weakening of protection of human health and the environment; and the HSE’s capacity to carry out its regulatory function.

The Lords is expected to debate the Statutory Instrument on 13 June.