Environmental Policy Forum: Paths towards the Use of Safer Chemicals

The Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Vrije Universitetit Brussel and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) kindly invite you to their next Environmental Policy Forum with

• Lauren Heine, Scientific Director, Clean Production Action, United States
• Bjorn Hansen, Deputy Head of Unit, European Commission, DG Environment, Unit on Chemicals and Nanomaterials

The aim of this Environmental Policy Forum is to compare approaches in the EU and the US to fostering the substitution of hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives. Chemicals are a major part of everyday life. They are used in most production processes and consumer products. Workers and consumer are exposed to chemicals every day at their workplace, at home and almost everywhere else. Although these chemicals have sometimes been in commercial use for decades, there is not sufficient data to assess comprehensively the hazards and risks of many of them.

Additionally, innovation for safer alternatives has been slow and many chemicals with hazardous properties and risks have not been substituted with safer alternatives. To address these gaps, the European Union introduced a Regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) in 2006 and California initiated the Green Chemistry Initiative and specifically, an Act on Safer Alternatives for Consumer Products in 2008.
 

Registration

Participation is free of charge and open to all, but due to space limitations, online registration is required here.

The program will start at 12:00 with a sandwich lunch, followed by the presentations at 12.30