Nickel industry condemns EU’s flawed classification of substances
January 16, 2009 -- The Nickel industry has expressed its regret that the
European Commission has pushed ahead with its classification of nickel substances, which is not based on
sound science and which risks doing irreparable harm to the industry.
Yesterday’s [15 January 2009] announcement in the Official Journal of the European Union deals with the
classification of more than 100 nickel substances under a process known as the 31st Adaptation to Technical
Progress (ATP) to the Dangerous Substances Directive.
While supportive of the principle of regulating substances to protect human health and the environment, the
nickel industry and more than 20 of the EU’s trading partners share the view that the proposed classification
of such a diverse range of nickel compounds applying unscientifically the 'read across' technique1
is not based on a proper scientific assessment of their properties, nor does it comply with the applicable
technical and legal criteria for such classifications.
The Nickel Institute2 believes the conclusion reached by the EU to classify certain nickel
substances using read-across and based solely on solubility in water, is not scientifically sound.
Stephen Barnett, president of the Nickel Institute, commented: “A simple example of why the methodology used
is incorrect would be to compare sodium chloride and sodium cyanide. They are both water-soluble substances
with similar chemical structures. People deliberately add sodium chloride (table salt) to their food, but
sodium cyanide is a deadly poison and even in the tiniest quantities will kill you. Classifying both
substances equally is clearly nonsense.”
He continued: “Because of the complexity, in March of this year, our industry convened an independent panel
of international experts to look at the criteria and methodology used to produce the nickel classifications.
The panel members concluded, on the basis of their professional and expert examination, that the criteria and
methodology used in this case was not sufficient for a regulatory decision.”
“The nickel industry historically supports appropriate regulation of its products and their uses, and is
committed to implementing properly developed regulations”, Barnett said, “and we believe that the new
chemical legislation, REACH, provides the framework for a more systematic and correct assessment of the
nickel compounds in question.”
Barnett added: “It is simply unreasonable to classify large numbers of substances without using the specific
and proper scientific data that applies to each one individually. Sound science must be the bedrock of EU
regulatory policy or the credibility of the entire program will be completely undermined.
“The nickel industry will be considering all options open to us, while continuing to ensure that workers and
users are protected to the highest standards in line with occupational exposure legislation.”
Nickel compounds play an important role in underpinning the competitiveness of major industrial and service
sectors in the EU (such as aerospace, automotive, oil refining, medical, power generation, banking, textiles
and optical media), in supporting economic efficiency and innovation across large parts of the EU’s economy,
and in helping the EU achieve its environmental goals.
The total value-added created by the nickel industry and those industries that are dependent on nickel in the
EU is around €50 billion. It is a critical technology across a wide segment of European industry. Its value
chain is also a significant employer – around 690,000 across Europe. Of these, around 470,000 are direct
jobs, with a further 220,000 being created indirectly through the impact of ‘multipliers’.
________
Notes to the editor
1. Read-across is a process used by some regulatory authorities in which the ‘hazard data’ of one
substance is assumed to apply to all structurally-related or similar substances. The benefit of this process
is that it saves testing time and costs. However, read-across can only be successful if good quality data is
available for all of the related substances.
2. The Nickel Institute is a non-profit organization that represents the interests of 29 companies
which together produce more than 90% of the world’s annual nickel output. The Institute was established in
2004, through the merger of the Nickel Development Institute (NiDI) and the Nickel Producers Environmental
Research Association (NiPERA).
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Dr. Peter Cutler
Technical Director, Europe
Nickel Institute
E-mail: pcutler@nickelinstitute.org
Tel: +44 1527 584 777
