European Union dangerous substances directive

In the European Union, coal-derived complex chemical substances, ie, those contained in the European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances, have been classified for carcinogenicity in the twenty-first adaptation to technical progress of the European Commission (EC) Dangerous Substances Directive 1994 67/548/EEC (57). The EC Regulation 793/93 requires data sets to be submitted by producers or importers to the... 

The types of harm that chemicals have the capacity to cause (in other words their hazards) are qualitatively different and not commensurate with each other. At one extreme are effects that require reasonably high concentrations of the substance, are immediate and localized (for example flammability, explosivity, corrosiveness and acute toxicity). The causal relationship between a particular chemical exposure and such effects is usually obvious, or at least easy to demonstrate. Those affected generally include those who deal directly with the chemical and it is often possible to handle and store the chemical in such a way that harm is avoided. The existing European Union (EU) regulatory system, dating from the 1967 dangerous substances directive (Council Directive 67/548/EEC) was clearly set up with... 

The European Union enacted the directive on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances in response to the 1976 dioxin release from the ICMESA facility near Seveso, Italy the United States enacted a similar Emergency Preparedness and Community Right-to-Know Act in response to the 1984 Bhopal disaster and 1989 Phillips Pasadena, Texas, refinery explosion and fire. 

In 1982, the European Union s Council Directive 82/501/EEC on the major-accident hazards of certain industrial activities, also known as the Seveso Directive, was adopted. The Directive was mostly designed to promote information flow and created the requirement that each Member State (i.e., each country belonging to the European Union) appoint a Competent Authority to oversee safety issues. The Seveso Directive was amended twice, following major accidents at the Union Carbide chemical factory in Bhopal, India in 1984 (a leak of methyl isocyanate caused thousands of deaths), and at the Sandoz chemical warehouse in Basel, Switzerland in 1986 (fire-fighting water contaminated with mercury, organophosphate pesticides and other chemicals caused massive pollution of the Rhine River and the death of hundreds of thousands of fish). Both amendments, broadened the scope of the Directive, in particular to include the storage of dangerous substances. 

In the European Union (EU), Registration, Evaluation, Autorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) resolves the dilemma faced under the TSCA to some degree because there is no distinction between new and existing chemicals. Simultaneously, significant new nomenclature issues will undoubtedly surface. Under the Sixth Amendment to the Dangerous Substances Directive, the European Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances (EINECS) was established as the inventory of chemical substances that were manufactured in or imported into the EU at the time that it was established. EINECS consisted of those chemicals being in commerce in the... 

EEC, Seventh Amendment to EEC Directive 67/548/EEC, "Directive on Classification, Packaging, and Labelling of Dangerous Substances," European Union Commission, Brussels, Belgium (June 5,1992). 

The concept of a safety case comes from the requirements of the European Union/European Community (EU/EC) Seveso Directive (82/501/EC) and, in particular, regulations that the United Kingdom and other member states used to implement that directive. United Kingdom regulations (Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards [CIMAH], 1984 replaced by Control of Major Accident Hazards Involving Dangerous Substances [COMAH] in 1999) require that major hazardous facilities produce a safety report or safety case.64 The requirement for a safety case is initiated by a list of chemicals and a class of flammables. Like the hazard analysis approach (Section 8.1.2), experts identify the reactive hazards of the process if analysis shows that the proposed process is safe, it may be excluded from additional regulatory requirements. 

The Seveso Directive covered all European Union Member States, and held them responsible for ensuring that the relevant national institutions do what is required for adequate risk management. The entire Directive was also driven by a concern for prevention, including those parts that relate to post-accident activities. For example, terms such as industrial activity, manufacturer, major accident, and dangerous substances were defined, the types of production, operations, and storage activities that are subject to regulation were described, and the dangers that are anticipated were noted. 

European Union. 2004. CONSLEG 1976L0769 — 16/03/2004, Council Directive of 27 July 1976 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (76/769/EEQ,... 

Directive 2012/187EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on the control of majcn-accident hazards involving dangerous substances, amending and subsequently repealing Council Directive 96/82/EC, Official Journal of the European Union, L 197/1-L 197/37, July 24th, 2012... 

European Union, Directive 76/464/EEC on Pollution Caused by Certain Dangerous Substances Discharged into the Aquatic Environment of the Community (OJ L129, 18 May 1976) (the Framework Directive), European Union, Luxembourg (1976)... 

SEVESO-II, Control of Major Accident Hazards, Involving Dangerous Substances, Council of the European Union, Council Directive 96/82/EC, 09 December 1996, amended November 2008... 

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