BRITAIN is pressing for the European Commission to draw up legislation clamping down on the many chemicals still in use that can damage both human health and the environment. Michael Meacher, the environment minister, tells me the government is concerned that there are still so many chemicals for which even basic health and environmental data is unavailable.
Early last year, the Commission issued a White Paper proposing a future European Union policy on chemicals. It suggested a single system for existing and new chemicals requiring industries to provide information by specified deadlines to register the various chemicals they produce.
The…
