Global Governance of Hazardous Chemicals: Challenges of Multilevel Management

3 Global Chemicals Use and Management in a Historical Perspective

3 Global Chemicals Use and Management in a Historical Perspective In an analysis of the development of the chemicals regime, the connection between the advancement of scientific understanding, the emergence of public apprehension, and the formulation of policy responses needs to be considered from a historical perspective. This chapter begins with an introduction to key chemicals management issues, followed by an overview of the rise of scientific and public consciousness of hazardous chemicals starting in the 1960s. Early concerns about growing chemicals use focused on risks to human well-being and local environmental damages from the application of pesticides and the mismanagement of industrial chemicals. As scientific knowledge of the characteristics and environmental behavior of hazardous chemicals improved in the 1970s and 1980s, policy makers and environmental advocacy groups expressed additional concerns about the long-range transport of emissions and adverse effects on humans and wildlife. The overview of developments in scientific and policy awareness about hazardous chemicals is followed by a discussion of the roles that leading organizations and states played in the creation of international policy programs and agreements, including how these initiatives relate to advancements in scientific understanding and public concern. This is followed by a presentation of early domestic and international action on hazardous chemicals from the 1960s until the late 1980s. Many of these policy efforts focused on information gathering and the development of limited domestic and international regulations on a few hazardous substances for which there were early scientific data.This presentation is continued by an outline of the initiation of a more comprehensive life cycle chemicals policy since the 1990s, including continuing efforts to improve implementation across the main parts of the chemicals regime and enhance multilevel governance. 40 Chapter 3 Chemicals Management Issues The famous DuPont slogan, “Better Things for Better Living … Through Chemistry,” from the 1930s captured the early optimism of the chemicals revolution, as production and use increased sharply following World War II.1 A wide range of chemicals helps to improve human standards of living in a host of ways, including increasing yields of major cash crops, advancing public health protection from vector-borne diseases, and producing countless industrial and consumer goods. The chemicals industry consists of the many firms that produce chemicals from raw materials (mainly petroleum ), as well as those that alter or blend individual substances into different mixtures. Some chemicals are produced in volumes of millions of metric tons per year, but most are produced in quantities of less than 1,000 metric tons annually (OECD 2001).There is, however, no easily accessible figure for the total amount of global chemicals production. Over 100,000 chemicals have been registered in the EU for commercial use since the 1960s. The European Commission (2001) estimates that 40,000 to 60,000 chemicals are currently sold on the EU market. Most of these chemicals are likely also used in many other regions. Global sales of chemicals grew almost ninefold between 1970 and 2000. The OECD estimated in 2001 that the global output of the chemical industry will roughly double between 1995 and 2020 (OECD 2001). Worldwide chemical sales (excluding pharmaceuticals) are worth approximately $2 trillion (CEFIC 2006), constituting close to 10 percent of all global trade (OECD 2001). Asia (mainly Japan, China, and India) is the world’s leading chemicals-producing region in monetary terms, closely followed by the EU and the United States. The market is dominated by a few dozen multinational companies, including BASF, Bayer, Dow Chemical Company , Shell Chemical, and DuPont (Datamonitor 2005, 2006). Chemicals are released through agricultural activities, industrial production , combustion processes, and leakages from waste streams. Hazardous chemicals exhibit several important properties (see box 3.1). Emissions can travel long distances from their sources on air currents and waterways and in migratory animals. Some hazardous chemicals bioaccumulate , or build up in the fatty tissues of individual organisms, and further biomagnify upward through food chains. Environmental risks include estrogenic effects, disruption of endocrine functions, impairment Global Chemicals Use and Management in a Historical Perspective 41 of immune systems, functional and physiological effects on reproduction capabilities, and reduced survival and growth of offspring. Human longterm , low-dose exposure has been linked to carcinogenic and tumorigenic effects as well as endocrine disruption as authorities in many countries express concerns about such chemical exposure. Chemicals poisoning occurs all over the world. Symptoms include a wide range of effects, from burning eyes, headache, and muscle cramps...