Chemicals
RPA has an established reputation in the fields of chemicals policy and chemicals risk management. This has included the development of risk reduction strategies under the Existing Substances Regulation (ESR) (for Defra (UK) and RIVM (Netherlands)); the application of risk-benefit analysis techniques to chemicals (for Defra (UK)); the preparation of guidance on the application of socio-economic analysis to chemical risk management issues (for OECD); and the evaluation of the advantages and drawbacks of harmonisation measures for chemicals (for the European Commission). RPA has also been involved in the formative stages of various environmental legislation including the Water Framework Directive and the proposed new EU Chemicals Regulation (REACH).
RPA has undertaken a number of projects on the new EU chemicals strategy, concerning the direct and indirect implications of the REACH proposals. This includes studies not only for both DG Enterprise and DG Environment, but also for EU trade organisations, including Eurocommerce (wholesalers and retailers) and COLIPA (the cosmetics sector), and for private sector companies.
In the area of chemicals, RPA is capably placed to:
- prepare risk
assessments according to ESR guidelines;
- provide an independent
review of methodologies and identify data gaps;
- review studies conducted
by industry to ensure that they have been appropriately conducted
and adequately reported to an equivalent standard in line with
that of OECD guidance;
- recommend whether further work is required
before submission to chemical risk management or on the other hand,
the report is satisfactory for submission to the chemical risk
management programme; and
- where required, provide technical support on risk management issues arising from the conclusions following submission of the SIDS assessment.
