Chemical safety in Europe is regulated in part by REACH*.
REACH requires that testing of a substance involving vertebrate animals is only carried out as a last resort. To help meet this aim the European Chemical Agency regularly requests manufacturers and others to volunteer any information they may have from vertebrate tests with respect to particular chemicals.
Their latest request is for information on 22 diverse substances including barium salts, silver and zirconium dioxide. The full list can be seen here.
The European Chemicals Agency's (ECHA) publishes all test proposals involving vertebrate animals, for endpoints specified in Annexes IX and X under REACH, on this webpage before the testing is carried out. After a testing proposal has been published, third parties have 45 days to submit "scientifically valid information and studies that address the relevant substance and hazard endpoint, relating to the testing proposal" (REACH, Article 40 (2)).
Further information on these and other registered substances is published at ECHA-CHEM website.
Scientifically-valid information and studies from third parties for this latest request should be submitted to the agency by 14 June 2011.
* Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH).
More information about REACH from the Health & Safety Executive is available here: http://www.hse.gov.uk/reach/index.htm
Last edited: 29 July 2022 14:19
