EU's Largest-Ever Toxic Chemical Ban Stalled by 'Unlawful' Delays
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- ClientEarth and the European Environmental Bureau found in a progress report that the European Commission has not started the process of regulating 7 of 22 hazardous chemical groups under its 2022 'restrictions roadmap' and has 'effectively frozen' progress on 7 more, with green groups calling the delays 'unlawful'.
- Delays beyond the legal three-month deadline under EU Reach regulations range from 13 to 47 months and average two years, with the deadline reportedly never once being met since the roadmap launched in April 2022.
- Lead in ammunition and fishing tackle accounts for the bulk of the 98,000 tonnes of extra chemical pollution attributed to the delays, with a 23-month lag; the European Chemicals Agency estimates roughly 44,000 tonnes of lead enters the environment from these sources annually.
- Stalled restrictions include lead in bullets (linked to chronic kidney disease in hunters), substances in childcare articles tied to cancer and genetic mutations, the carcinogen-spreading fertilizer calcium cyanamide, and a bioaccumulating flame retardant used in cars.
- Some restrictions have moved forward, including bans on PFAS in firefighting foam, lead in PVC plastics, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons used in clay pigeon shooting, but the report's authors say the plan 'doesn't really have a plan function any more.'
- Mirella Miettinen, a chemical regulation researcher at the University of Eastern Finland, said the issue is not a lack of scientific opinions but a lack of political will at the decision-making stage, calling the situation 'extremely frustrating.'
- The European Commission did not respond to a request for comment on the report's findings.
Why it matters: The Commission's own 2022 roadmap was celebrated as the world's most ambitious detox of hazardous substances, replacing a whack-a-mole approach of banning one compound at a time. With the three-month legal deadline never met and 14 of 22 groups stalled, 98,000 tonnes of additional documented pollution has accumulated — the report's authors argue this is not bureaucratic delay but 'unlawful' inaction that undermines the EU's global chemical-safety leadership.
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