EU Risk Assessments
The background
In the frame of the Council Regulation (EEC) 793/93 on Existing Substances, which has been revoked and replaced by the Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH), several substances, put on four European priority lists had to undergo an in-depth risk assessment. The lists of substances resulted from a work of prioritization of the substances with the greatest potential risks.
The principles
The risk assessment is the evaluation of the risk posed by the chemical to man covering workers, consumers and man exposed via the environment)and to the environment (covering the terrestrial, aquatic and atmospheric eco-systems and accumulation through the food chain).
The risk depends on two factors: the intrinsic properties of the substance and the possibility of exposure.
Let us take an example: potassium cyanide is a very toxic product; this toxicity is part of its intrinsic properties. Now let us say the potassium cyanide locked in a safe, the key to which is lost. In this example, there is no possibility of exposure, even though the substance is very toxic: there is a hazard, but there is no risk.
Man is very often using hazardous things while controlling the exposure to limit the risk: fire is very dangerous, it can burn you, but we use it in furnaces, boilers and heathers designed to prevent the exposure, minimizing the risks.
Risk assessments and the Cefic Petrochemistry Industry Sector
Out of the 141 substances belonging to the four priority lists, 32 are within the remit of the Cefic Petrochemistry Industry Sector. For these 32 substances, 24 risk assessment reports are published (19 fully, 5 Env. Part) and 4 are at the final stage, waiting for the publication.
| Chemical | Status | Cefic Petrochemistry Industry Sector product group concerned |
| Acrylic acid | Published | European Basic Acrylic Monomer Group |
| Acrylonitrile | Published | Acrylonitrile Producers Association |
| Benzene | Final | Aromatics Producers Association |
| 1,3-butadiene | Published | Lower Olefins Sector Group |
| 2-butoxyethanol | Env. | Oxygenated Solvent Producers Association |
| 2-butoxyethanol acetate | Env. | Oxygenated Solvent Producers Association |
| 2-(2-Butoxyethoxy)ethanol | Env. | Oxygenated Solvent Producers Association |
| Cumene | Published | Aromatics Producers Association |
| Cyclohexane | Published | Aromatics Producers Association |
| 2-ethoxyethanol | Draft | Oxygenated Solvent Producers Association |
| 2-ethoxyethyl acetate | Final | Oxygenated Solvent Producers Association |
| Ethyl acetoacetate | Published | Oxygenated Solvent Producers Association |
| Ethylbenzene | Draft | Styrene Producers Association |
| 2-ethylhexyl acrylate | Published | Methacrylates (MMA + PMMA) |
| Methacrylic acid | Published | Methacrylates (MMA + PMMA) |
| 2-(2-Methoxyethoxy)ethanol | Published | Oxygenated Solvent Producers Association |
| 2-methoxyethyl acetate | Draft | Oxygenated Solvent Producers Association |
| 1-methoxypropan-2-ol | Published | Oxygenated Solvent Producers Association |
| 1-methoxypropan-2-ol acetate | Published | Oxygenated Solvent Producers Association |
| Methyl methacrylate | Published | Methacrylates (MMA + PMMA) |
| Methyloxirane | Published | Propylene Oxide & Glycols |
| Naphthalene | Published | Coal Chemicals |
| Pentane | Published | Hydrocarbon Solvent Producers Association |
| Phenol | Published | Phenol Producers Association |
| Piperazine | Published | Amines Sector Group |
| Pitch, coal tar, high-temp | Draft | Coal Tar Chemicals |
| Propan-1-ol | Published | Oxygenated Solvent Producers Association |
| Styrene | Env. | Styrene Producers Association |
| Methyl-tert-butyl-ether | Published | European Fuel Oxygenates Association |
| Toluene | Published | Aromatics Producers Association |
| 2,4,4-trimethylpentene | Final | Lower Olefins Sector Group |
| Vinyl acetate | Final | Acetyls Sector Group |
