SWEDISH CHEMICAL RISK

KEMI s list of toxics is one of the most important sources of information for retailers in deciding on their purchases. Recent versions of the KEMI list carry an explanatory section that encourages the user to make some sort of risk assessment of the listed substances rather than automatically deciding against a product because it contains one or more of the listed chemicals. However, according to information from the Swedish Chemicals Manufacturers Association, retailers purchasing departments... 

Karlsson, M. (2006) The Precautionary Principle, Swedish Chemicals Policy and Sustainable Development. Journal of Risk Research 9, 337-360. 

Distinct and clearly formulated legislation on chemicals is, together with efficient implementation and enforcement, a necessary prerequisite for effective chemicals risk management. Two recent publications from the Swedish Chemicals Agency, KemI, analyse and discuss in more depth the need for an appropriate national infrastructure for chemicals control, such as legislation and institutional capacity and capability (KemI PM 1/07 and KemI PM 4/08). KemI PM 4/08 includes an example of a full-text basic law on chemicals. 

KemI (2008) Legislation for risk management at marketing of chemicals. KemI PM 4/08, Swedish Chemicals Agency, Sundbyberg, Sweden, http //www.kemi.se... 

Sweden exhibits a particularly good performance in terms of avoiding fatalities and injuries in this sector. These statistics could support the view that a culture of safety exists in Swedish companies, but chemical risk management in Sweden is arguably simpler for regulators and stakeholders due to fewer total chemicals produced and used within its territories (Section 4.1). This was exemplified during the interview with Swedish chemical industry representatives (paraphrased) ... 

For example, the Franco-American company Rhodia notes that REACH has reinforced its efforts in developing product stewardship programmes and reviewing SDS [526]. Similarly, the Swedish Chemical and Plastic Industry Federation has responded to REACH by launching a major initiative to improve SDS information supplied by its companies [527]. From the other end of the risk communication chain, the Dutch-American company Rohm and Haas has responded with a scheme for collecting data on the chemical contents of its upstream raw materials [528]. 

R. Lofstedt, Swedish Chemical Regulation An Overview and Analysis, Risk Analysis, 2003, 23, 2, 411. 

B. Wahlstrom and B. Lundqvist, Risk Reduction and Chemical Control Lessons from the Swedish Chemicals... 

In 1999, the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) adopted a bill establishing 15 Environmental Quality Objectives [351]. The bill follows SEPA proposals and only one objective specifically relates to chemicals, that of a non-toxic environment. The primary objective of a non-toxic environment states that The environment must be free from man-made substances and metals that represent a threat to human health or biological diversity [544], With regards to chemical risk management the following should be achieved within one generation [544] ... 

The Swedish chemical industry plays a relatively small part in chemical production of the Europe Union as a whole. Nevertheless the use of hazardous chemical substances is as widespread in Sweden as in all the other countries in the study. Eighty per cent of the Swedish respondents to the European Foundation survey considered th selves very well or fairly well informed about risks resulting from the use of materials,... 

When the data as a whole are reviewed for studies on humans exposed to ethylene oxide, no conclusion can be made that there is an increase in mortahty associated with those exposed to ethylene oxide. Two Swedish studies (247,248) indicated an increase in leukemia for workers exposed to multiple chemicals including ethylene oxide however, in a recent larger Swedish study (249) of workers exposed to only ethylene oxide, there was no association of any type of cancer increase for these workers. In a recent study sponsored by NIOSH, there was no significant increase in mortahty observed for cancer when all types are combined or for certain individual types of cancer, even for those people who worked the longest and were observed the longest. However, a statistically significant increase in mortahty from certain types of lymphoma was observed for male workers. This is contrary to the results observed for female workers. In addition, four other cohort studies of ethylene oxide-exposed workers have been pubhshed (250—253), but no unequivocal increase in the risk of cancer was observed. 

The Swedish government has also reiterated the need to substitute substances of very high concern. These substances are estimated to be relatively few and would not overload the authorisation system. Sweden states that authorisation of such chemicals may be granted only if industry can demonstrate that no feasible alternatives are available the socio-economic arguments clearly outweigh the potential risks and emissions are foreseen to be negligible during manufacture, use and disposal. ... 

The Swedish National Chemicals Inspectorate (KEMI) has published an extensive review on human health risk assessment with focus on the application of assessment factors in risk assessments for plant protection products, industrial chemicals, and biocidal products within the European Union (KEMI 2003). 

After the end of World War II, science was a major organizing factor in Sweden s focusing attention on possible health and environmental risks from humans discharge of chemicals into the environment. For many decades, Sweden has been hailed as an enviable example of how effective environmental policies based on sound expertise can be implemented to the benefit of its inhabitants, and in many respects this reputation is well deserved. For instance, it is now possible to catch salmon from bridges in Stockholm, and a steady stream of delegations from other nations has arrived to learn more about the Swedish model for environmental protection. 

Swedish politicians more or less openly admit that the concerns of the most risk-adverse people, rather than objective measures of risk, guide their policies directed at chemicals. Such pol-... 

While the Swedish Government sees the PP as an instrument to restrict the overall use of manmade chemicals in society, the EU Commission reserves its implementation of the PP to risks that in the event of non-action may have serious consequences. The EU Commission s statement is similar to the second sentence of Principle 15 in the Rio Declaration, which reserves the use of the PP to threats of serious or irreversible damage. The words of the EU Commission and the Rio Declaration impose considerable restraints on when the PP should be applied, and the EU Economic... 

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