• Great Lakes Pollution Prevention and Toxics Reduction Plan
• Canada
• Norway
• Swedish Chemicals Agency
• US Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR)
• US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Great Lakes Pollution Prevention and Toxics Reduction Plan
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/p2/bns.html

The U.S. EPA and Environment Canada agreed in April 1997 on a plan to eliminate persistent toxic substances from the Great Lakes by the year 2006. The agreement marks the first time that specific reduction targets for toxic pollutants have been jointly set by both countries. The plan is based primarily on voluntary pollution prevention activities, but builds on existing Canadian and U.S. regulatory programs. The plan seeks confirmation that there are no releases of five bioaccumulative pesticides: chlordane, aldrin/dieldrin, DDT, mirex and toxaphene. US EPA and Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency will also evaluate whether there is any need for additional controls on pesticides such as pentachlorophenol and lindane.

Canada - New Chemicals Management Plan & Chemical Substances website
http://www.chemicalsubstanceschimiques.gc.ca/en/index.html

Canada's new Chemicals Management Plan, as part of the government's comprehensive environmental agenda, was revealed by the Prime Minister in December 2006. The plan took immediate action to regulate chemicals that are harmful to human health or the environment. The government committed CA$300 million over four years to implement the plan and launched a new web portal service to provide Canadians with the latest information about hazardous chemicals.

Highlights of the new 'Chemicals Management Plan' are as follows:

• Regulations and enforcement - taking immediate action on five substance categories confirmed to be harmful and establishing a 'Virtual Elimination List'
• Challenge to industry - requiring the industry to provide new information about how it is managing the 200 chemical substances that are categorized as potentially harmful by the government database within three years
• Restrictions on re-introduction and new uses - of approximately 150 high-hazard chemical substances which are not currently in use in Canada
• Rapid screening of lower risk chemical substances - targeted for completion by 1H2007
• Accelerated re-evaluation of older pesticides - targeted for completion by 2009, immediately followed by an action to remove any harmful ones from the market
• Mandatory ingredient labeling of all cosmetic products - starting from November 2006

Norway - Substitution Principle & List of Priority Substances
http://www.environment.no/templates/themepage____2153.aspx

Chemicals and their use are regulated under two laws in Norway: The Pollution Control Act and the Product Control Act. The Product Control Act provides legal authority to prepare and lay down regulations on particular substances. The amended Act in January 2000 requires all commercial enterprises to apply the "Substitution Principle". This means that they must evaluate whether they can replace any hazardous chemicals that they use with less hazardous alternatives.

The "List of Priority Substances" was first published in a white paper in 1997 for the Sorting Environmental Policy for a Sustainable Development. The priority list includes about 30 substances and groups of substances, which are nationally targeted for elimination or substantial reduction of emissions by 2000, 2005 or 2010. Meanwhile, the authorities have also drawn up the "Observation List", a list of hazardous substances that are suspected to be problematic to human health and the environment based on current information.

Furthermore, Norway's pollution control authority (SFT) has proposed banning ten previously unregulated substances used in consumer products, and restricting more tightly a further eleven. The proposals will lead to the banning of some products even if they are permitted in other EU nations. The first group covers bisphenol A, PFOS and PFOA, and the brominated flame retardants. More stringent limits will apply to chemicals like phthalate and heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury arsenic and their compounds.

Swedish Chemicals Agency - Phase-out of substances of very high concern
http://www.kemi.se/default____550.aspx

A non-toxic environment is one of 16 environmental quality objectives adopted by the Swedish Parliament. To achieve this, the Swedish Chemicals Agency, as the primary agency for the chemicals policy under the Ministry of the Environment, has set out 9 interim targets indicating scope and time perspectives for concrete implementation measures. One of the targets is the "phase-out" of substances of very high concern so that newly manufactured products will be as free as possible from (1) new organic substances that are persistent, bioaccumulating, carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic, as soon as possible, but no later than 2007; (2) other carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic substances, and endocrine disrupting substances or highly allergenic substances by 2010, if they will enter natural cycles; and (3) other organic substances that are persistent and bioaccumulating by 2010.

US Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR)
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/2p-toxic-substances.html

ATSDR, a US federal public health agency, serves the public by providing science-based trusted health information and taking appropriate actions to prevent harmful exposures and diseases related to toxic substances. ATADR is mandated by the US Congress to produce and update several crucial toxic substance related data and information including:

• Toxicological Profiles - for hazardous substances found at National Priorities List (NPL) sites with rankings shown based on frequency of occurrence at NPL sites, toxicity, and potential for human exposure. More than 250 substances are covered.
• ATSDR Priority Hazardous Substances & Top 20 Hazardous Substances - Lists, in order of priority, of substances that are most commonly found at facilities on the NPL and which are determined to pose the most significant potential threat to human health due to their known or suspected toxicity and potential for human exposure at these NPL sites.
• ATSDR ToxFAQs™ - a series of summarized fact sheets about hazardous substances and the effects of exposure on human health, to give a quick and easy guide to the public.

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - National Biomonitoring Program
http://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/

  Back to Top