WRITTEN QUESTION E-2127/01

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(17 July 2001)

Subject: Assessment of the risks of zinc

Everybody know that the assessment of the risks to human health and the environment presented by zinc is compulsory under Regulation 793/93(1). Regulation 1488/94(2) lays down the principles. Since it belongs to the second list of priorities, zinc is currently being examined. The Dutch institute conducting the study will be responsible for drawing up the report. The zinc-coating and related industries fear that the Commission intends draw up the final report in too much of a hurry. The report is considered to be incomplete, since the PNEC values (predicted no-effect concentrations) are thought to be inaccurate.

Can the Commission say whether:

1. it intends to complete the work in the near future, via the Technical Meeting of the ECB in Ispra;

2. it is aware that several parts of the text drawn up by the Dutch institute conflict with the Technical Guidance Document, which the Commission put forward in order to provide the methodology to be followed;

3. it does not consider it essential, in assessing the environmental impact, to take account of complex factors, about which there is a lack of scientific information, which makes it impossible to complete the work within the tight deadlines, which were set arbitrarily at the last session of the Technical Meeting;

4. it does not consider that it has the responsibility to offer a risk assessment with a clear scientific content, not only to ensure that no relevant data are ignored, but, above all, to make sure that it does not make the fatal mistake of basing its assessment on incomplete information;

5. it does not consider that in order to fill these gaps, the risk assessment could be completed within a reasonable deadline (later than the latest deadline of September 2001) in order to be able to submit to the rapporteur a study which scientists and independent university lecturers have been carrying out,

6. whilst adhering to the deadlines, the results reached by the Dutch institute might coincide with those obtained in the latest study?

(1) OJ L 84, 5.4.1993, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 161, 29.6.1994, p. 3.

Joint answerto Written Questions E-2082/01, E-2127/01, E-2348/01 and P-2681/01given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(29 October 2001)

The six zinc compounds undergoing risk assessment following Council Regulation (EEC) No. 793/93 of 23 March 1993 on the evaluation and control of the risks of existing substances, were prioritised on 27 September 1995. The first draft risk assessment reports (RAR) were submitted by the Dutch authorities, acting as Member State Rapporteur, to the Community Technical Meeting in December 1999. Over the last decade, extensive discussions between the Dutch Institute Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM) acting as Rapporteur and zinc industry have taken place, and the output has been considered in the reports.

In comparison with other priority substances assessed under the Council Regulation (EEC) No. 793/93 on the evaluation and control of the risks of existing substances, the procedure for completing the risk assessment for the six zinc compounds is not in anyway accelerated and there has never been the intention to close the discussions without taking into account ongoing research that could affect the conclusions.

At the Technical Meeting in September 2001, after an extensive discussion on the new draft reports, Member States experts agreed that especially on the issue of the emissions from zinc to soil and the bioavailability of this released zinc in the soil, specific information needs could be identified that might affect some of the conclusions regarding the risks of this substance. Therefore, in line with the usual procedure under this Regulation, the meeting agreed on a conclusion (i) there is a need for further information and/or testing, and agreed on a deadline of 18 months from September 2001 to obtain this information. After this deadline the Member State Rapporteur will incorporate the new results in the final RAR. These results and the final part of the report will then be discussed and concluded upon by the Technical Meeting.