Activities of Carl SCHLYTER related to 2008/2208(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Nanomaterials (A6-0255/2009, Carl Schlyter)
Reports (1)
REPORT Report on regulatory aspects of nanomaterials PDF (205 KB) DOC (133 KB)
Amendments (27)
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas the lack of clarity about the actual use of nanomaterials in consumer products is unlikely to change, unless their are clear notification requirements on the use of nanomaterials, as well as full enforcement of Directive 2006/114/EC concerning misleading and comparative advertising,
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas SCENIHR identified some specific health hazards as well as toxic effects on environmental organisms for some nanomaterials, and considered that these observations indicate potential hazards which should be taken into consideration,
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
Hb. whereas SCENIHR furthermore found a general lack of high quality exposure data both for humans and the environment and expects risk assessment procedures to remain under development until there is sufficient scientific information available to characterise the possible harmful effects on humans and the environment, thus concluding that the knowledge on the methodology for both exposure estimates and hazard identification needs to be further developed, validated and standardised,
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H c (new)
Recital H c (new)
Hc. whereas the combination of evidence of hazards for certain nanomaterials and the overall lack of methods to properly assess the risks of nanomaterials is a reason for concern,
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H d (new)
Recital H d (new)
Hd. whereas current funding into the environmental, health and safety aspects of nanomaterials in the Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7) is far too low; whereas moreover the evaluation criteria for granting research projects to assess the safety of nanomaterials under FP7 are too restrictive (i.e. they have a narrow innovation bias), and thus do not sufficiently promote the urgent development of scientific methods to assess nanomaterials,
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H e (new)
Recital H e (new)
He. whereas the knowledge about potential health and environmental impacts lags significantly behind the pace of market developments, thus raising fundamental questions about the ability of the current governance model to deal with emerging technologies in "real time",
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L b (new)
Recital L b (new)
Lb. whereas waste legislation in the absence of nano-specific provisions may not apply correctly, for example: - adequate waste treatment depends inter alia on the hazardousness of a waste (e.g. acceptance criteria for different wastes in a landfill), but will not apply for nanomaterials as long as there is no agreed method for hazard identification, thus leading to non-specific treatment of nanomaterials depending on the general nature of the waste they end up in (anything from municipal solid waste to hazardous waste), - emission limit values for waste incineration only apply to certain known pollutants and not for nanomaterials, even though some might have to be classified as pollutants, or might have special requirements (e.g. carbon nanotubes, which can present asbestos- like properties, are stable until very high temperatures),
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L c (new)
Recital L c (new)
Lc. whereas air and water legislation are blind to nano-specific challenges, as existing limits or quality standards are mass-based, but nanomaterials require different metrics to adequately assess them (e.g. number of particles or total surface area),
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L d (new)
Recital L d (new)
Ld. whereas legislation on integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) will not adequately cover the potential risks of nanomaterials: - manufacture of certain nanomaterials may not be covered adequately, as they do not fit into any category of traditional chemical nomenclature (e.g. fullerenes - they are not organic substances, and they are very different from inorganic bulk carbon), - processing after manufacturing may not be covered (e.g. the processing of carbon nanotubes into articles), - it is difficult to see how best available techniques reference documents (BREFs) can be established for the various nanomaterials, given the need for a case- by-case approach to nanomaterials,
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L e (new)
Recital L e (new)
Le. whereas there are fundamental problems with regard to the effectiveness of key provisions of worker protection legislation in relation to nanomaterials: - the obligation on employers to conduct a risk assessment as a basis for risk management measures such as substitution or occupational exposure limits is undermined by the absence of adequate and agreed risk assessment methodologies for nanomaterials and even provisions, - existing instruments often fail to adequately detect nanomaterials, thus making it difficult to control exposure,
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L f (new)
Recital L f (new)
Lf. whereas the significant amendments concerning nanomaterials currently negotiated between the Council and the European Parliament in the context of the recast of the cosmetics directive and the review of the regulation on novel food, respectively, highlight the clear need to amend Community legislation to address nanomaterials adequately,
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L g (new)
Recital L g (new)
Lg. whereas the current debate about regulatory aspects of nanomaterials is largely limited to expert circles, even though nanomaterials have the potential to bring about far-ranging societal change, which requires wide-ranging public consultation and full public participation in decision-making,
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls on the Commission to fundamentally rethink its approach to regulating nanomaterials, and to urgently revise all relevant legislation so as to establish an adaptive management system with early warnings and risk categories, before the technology is so established that its development can no longer be steered without major disruptions;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls for the introduction of a comprehensive science-based definition of nanomaterials in Community legislation as a prerequisite for nano-specific amendments to relevant horizontal and sectoral legislation;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Calls specifically for amendments to REACH that ensure the following not later than 18 months after entry into force: - simplified registration for nanomaterials manufactured or imported (with a threshold based on e.g. surface activity instead of tonnage), providing core data on physico-chemical properties as well as toxicological and ecotoxicological effects, - a chemical safety report with exposure assessment for all registered nanomaterials irrespective of hazard identification, - notification requirements for all nanomaterials placed on the market on their own, in preparations or in articles irrespective of tonnage and concentration thresholds;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Calls for the application of a "Duty of Care" for manufacturers that wish to place nanomaterials onto the market;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7d. Calls specifically for amendments to waste legislation to adequately address nanomaterials, such as: - a separate entry for nanomaterials in the list of waste established by Decision 2000/532/EC, - a revision of the waste acceptance criteria in landfills in Decision 2003/33/EC, - a revision of relevant emission limit values for waste incineration to supplement the mass-based measurements by metrics based on particle number and/or surface;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 e (new)
Paragraph 7 e (new)
7e. Calls specifically for a revision of emission limit values and environmental quality standards in air and water legislation to supplement the mass-based measurements by metrics based on particle number and/or surface to adequately address nanomaterials;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 f (new)
Paragraph 7 f (new)
7f. Calls specifically for amendments of the IPPC directive to ensure for all relevant nanomaterials that: - manufacture and processing are covered, - BREFs are newly established or adapted;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 g (new)
Paragraph 7 g (new)
7g. Calls specifically for amendments to worker protection legislation to ensure that nanomaterials are only used in closed systems as long as it is not possible to reliably detect and control exposure;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls for full enforcement of Directive 2006/114/EC concerning misleading and comparative advertising to ensure that that there is no misleading advertising with nanomaterials;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls for a major stepping up of the funding of research into the environmental, health and safety aspects of nanomaterials over their life cycle; calls specifically on the Commission to revise the evaluation criteria under FP7 so that FP7 attracts and funds significantly more research to improve the scientific methodology to assess nanomaterials;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Calls on the Commission to promote coordination and exchange between Member States on research and development, risk assessment, guidance development and regulation of nanomaterials by using existing mechanisms (e.g. REACH Competent Authorities Subgroup on Nanomaterials) or by creating additional ones, if appropriate;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 c (new)
Paragraph 9 c (new)
9c. Calls on the Commission to make an impact assessment on the costs and benefits of creating a European institute on nanomaterials;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 d (new)
Paragraph 9 d (new)
9d. Calls on the Commission to promote an EU-wide public debate in the Member States on regulatory aspects of nanomaterials;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 e (new)
Paragraph 9 e (new)
9e. Calls on the Commission to ensure full public participation in all decision- making related to nanomaterials;