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The European Union can claim to have the most ambitious chemical legislation in the world, called REACH regulation. The EU is actively spreading knowledge of REACH around the globe, thereby encouraging foreign governments to contemplate the adoption of REACH. As a result, REACH is exerting influence on environmental policy discussions in many countries. In the United States, the chemical industry, the authority, and environmental advocacy groups have expressed interest in modernization of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976, the major U.S. regulatory law applicable to industrial chemicals. It has been theorized based on 'California effect' that Europe may seek to export its stricter environmental standards under REACH to the United States. Thus, it is interesting to examine whether the environmental, health, and safety practices and values found in REACH are impacting the TSCA reform debate in the US,and the attempt to export the stricter EU chemical standard in REACH fails or succeeds in the case of the USA.
About the author
Agnes Botos defended her PhD at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy of Central European University in 2016. Currently she works as a chemical safety consultant specialized on REACH, CLP and BIOCIDE regulations in Hungary at GHS-expert Ltd.
