[Front page] [Contents] [Previous] [Next]

Danish Profile on Management of Chemicals in Environment, Health and Food

4. Priority Concerns Related to Chemicals

The managing of chemicals in Denmark is carried out by different authorities. Focus is on the environment, the public health and the worker's health and safety. Each of the relevant authorities has its own set of priorities regarding chemicals contributing to the different areas.

The overall management of chemicals in Denmark can be described as following the structural elements shown below:

  • Classification of chemicals
  • Risk assessment
  • Risk reduction
  • Setting of Limit values
  • Workers health and safety aspects

This means that the first step is to classify a given chemical substance or chemical product. This is then followed by a risk assessment of the chemicals. The third step is to consider whether a reduction of a discovered risk is necessary, for example by restriction of use or banned use. The fourth step will then be the setting of limit values regarding the emissions to air, water, soil and food. Special regulations and requirements regarding the working environment will then be set.

As a member state of the European Union, the EU action programmes for the environment, health and workers' health and safety provides considerable input for the Danish priorities concerning chemicals.

Environment
The priorities related to the overall environmental aspects are described in "Denmark's Nature and Environment Policy 1995" from the Ministry of Environment and Energy. The current policy statement was prepared in 1995, covering the period 1995 to 1999. The statement is related to exposures to water, air and soil, and waste management. For pesticides the statement was already set down in 1986.

The priority health aspects concern: average life expectancy, cancer (skin, lung, breast, testicular and leukaemia), neurotoxicity, infertility, asthma, allergy and hypersensitivity and endocrine disrupters.

Major priorities concerning health aspects and the use of chemicals are: chemicals in products, traffic pollution, emissions from industry, polluted sites, groundwater and indoor air quality. One of the major environmental concerns regarding the environment in Denmark is the quality of the groundwater. The discharge of nitrogen and pesticides represents a threat towards the generally high quality of the groundwater and is therefore in focus. The content of heavy metals, especially cadmium in sewage sludge, is also in focus. The cadmium content in fertilisers was regulated previously. Another major environmental problem is air pollution caused by increased traffic.

Some major actions related to chemicals are:
  • reduced production and use of hazardous chemical substances and products
  • reduced use of environmental harmful substances
  • substitution of hazardous chemical products to less hazardous
  • substitution of ozone depleting substances and organic solvents
  • reduction of emissions of VOC's (volatile organic compounds)
  • reduction in the use of pesticides
  • banned use of specific pesticides hazardous to the health and the environment
  • reduction in nitrogen leaching from agricultural land (50% reduction before 2000)
  • minimized production of (hazardous) waste and improved source sorting
  • reuse of waste and especially sewage waste

Special attention will be given to industrial product groups identified as causing the major environmental pollution problems during production, use or disposal. Examples of product groups of special concern are products from the graphic industry, furnitures, textiles, household appliances, building products, electronic products and biotechnological products.

The reduction in use of pesticides was planned in 1986. The objective of the plan is to halve the level of pesticides before 1997 as compared to the average of the period 1981-1985.

Labour
The priority concerns related to chemicals in the working environment are described in the Danish Working Environment Act, annual reports from the Ministry of Labour and "Working Environment in Focus" from the Danish Working Environment Service. Fatal accidents, cancerogenic substances, children at work and indoor air climate are in focus. Priorities besides these 4 major issues are:

  • Harmful substances must be substituted whenever technically possible
  • Polluting processes must be encapsulated
  • Pollution must be eliminated at the source of emission
  • Existing norms must be observed

However, mere compliance with the Occupational Exposure Limit's is not sufficient, a full assessment must be carried out and exposure kept as low as possible.

Food
The priority concerns related to chemicals in foodstuffs are set by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and are described in the annual report from the National Food Agency. Issues in focus are:

  • strengthening of the food control system and enforcement of self control in the food industries
  • assuring the safe use of food additives including flavourings and of novel foods e.g. man made genetic modifications
  • ensuring that foodstuffs do not contain chemical pollutants, which impose an unacceptable risk for consumer safety
  • to gain increased information on the occurrence, intake and bioavailability of chemicals present in foodstuffs
  • to improve the safety assessment of the chemicals the public is exposed to through the diet

The improved assessment of chemicals for example concerns the chemicals (drugs) capable of introducing antibiotic resistant microorganisms in the food chain.

Special attention is given to investigate possible effects on human health from chemicals used in packaging materials and from chemicals with hormone-like effects.

[Front page] [Contents] [Previous] [Next] [Top]