Risk Assessment and Risk Management of Toxic Chemicals in the European Community

This volume is meant to stimulate the ongoing discussion about a reform of the EC policy on trade and use of dangerous substances. As chemicals are only a segment of those products which cause environmental concern and because EC chemicals law expounds a great variety of forms and experiences, the book can also be read as a contribution pars pro toto to the broader debate about a comprehensive EC product policy.
The articles assembled in this collection are based on papers which were given at a conference at the Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Forschung in Bielefeld (ZiF) on April 22 and 23, 1999.
The major topics analysed are the frequent lack of risk information, the slow performance of the risk assessment machinery and the inertia of risk regulation. Suggestions for reform include modes of industrial self-control, the acceleration of data collection, targeted risk assessment, a realistic cost-benefit-analysis for risk reduction measures, instruments of informing the consumer and citizen, reorganisation of the division of labor among the Commission services between the EC and member state administrations and the integration of the EC-system into world-wide fora of chemicals control.