A chemical reaction

摘要

It was with interest that I read the article 'A chemical reaction' [SHP December 2013]. As a health and safety professional, I am all for making things less dangerous, however, it seems that the European Commission has wheeled in the heavy artillery and trundled over the 'so far as is reasonably practicable'. The Quango REACH will quite happily drive companies from business as they face ever increasing demands for compliance on the chemicals that they use. The request for an authorisation is very expensive, and it may or may not be granted. Application for an alternative from article 55 lays down all the necessary tests, studies and reports required for the substitution process all of which one can guess are very expensive, with the onus on the user as opposed to the external supplier.