About chemical regulations
Chemicals are essential to modern life. They are used in almost every product, process and industry, and people are exposed to them every day through work, household products, the environment - even before birth. Many chemicals are harmless or beneficial, but others can pose unacceptable risks to human health or the environment if they are not properly controlled.
Regulation exists to ensure that the benefits of chemicals can be realised while the risks are managed. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than a million deaths each year are linked to exposures to selected chemicals - and that figure covers only a small fraction of the substances people encounter. As global chemical production continues to grow, the need for clear, effective regulation becomes even more important.
Modern chemical regulation aims to ensure that hazards are understood, risks are evaluted, controls put in place, and the most dangerous substances can be restricted or removed from the market. Chemical regulation provides a framework for safe use, informed decision-making and proportionate protection of people and the environment.
Why chemicals are regulated
How chemicals are regulated in the UK and EU
Chemical regulation is not a single law or system. It is a complex network of interconnected regimes, each designed to address different aspects of chemical safety, from placing substances on the market to managing risks in workplaces or protecting the environment.
Some regimes set general requirements for placing chemicals on the market - frameworks that apply broadly to substances, mixtures and articles, such as REACH, CLP and PIC.
Others sets requirements for specific chemicals being placed on the market - regimes for particular product types, including biocides, pesticides, cosmetics, detergents and food contact materials.
Some laws ban or restrict dangerous chemicals - setting measures that limit or prohibit the manufacture, import, supply or use of hazardous substances, including REACH restriction and authorisation requirements, POPs and RoHS.
Occupational health and safety law governs how chemicals are used in the workplace - protecting employees and others affected by work activities, such as COSHH and DSEAR in the UK or legislation implementing the Chemical Agents Directive across the EU.
Major hazards legislation establishes frameworks for sites handling significant quantities of dangerous substances, including COMAH/Seveso.
Some laws regulate chemicals with security or misuse risks, such as controlled drugs, poisons and precursor legislation.
Consumer protection legislation sets requirements ensuring that consumer products containing chemicals are safe, including toy safety rules or the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR).
Environmental protection legislation manages environmental impacts, including waste legislation and environmental permitting.
Laws on the transport of dangerous goods exist to govern the safe movement of hazardous substances, including ADR (road), RID (rail), ICAO/IATA (air), IMDG Code (sea) and ADN (inland waterways).
Where chemical regulations come from
Most modern chemical regulations across Europe have their origins in EU law.
Many frameworks - including REACH and CLP - were created as EU Regulations to ensure a harmonised approach across Member States. Other frameworks - including much occupational health and safety law - were created as EU Directives, leaving Member States free to chose the manner of their implementation in national law.
Some chemical regulations implement global treaties, such as the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) or the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC).
Some national schemes remain, such as legacy biocides laws regulating products that contain active substances not yet approved under the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR). However, the majority of chemical regulation is shaped by EU legislation designed to support the single market and ensure consistent standards.
How chemical regulation applies across Europe today
Chemical regulations apply across much of Europe, but not uniformly. EU chemical legislation applies to businesses established in the European Union, currently comprising 27 Member States. In addition, many chemical regulations also apply in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, which are not EU members but participate in the European Economic Area (EEA) and therefore follow EU single-market legislation.
Switzerland, while part of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), is not in the EEA and is not bound to follow EU law. However, it operates its own chemicals legislation - including the Swiss Chemicals Ordinance and related measures - which in many respects mirrors the structure and requirements of EU frameworks such as REACH and CLP.
A number of other European countries are candidates for EU membership. These states are not obliged to follow EU chemical regulations until they join the EU, but many adopt similar systems in preparation. For example, Turkey’s KKDIK Regulation closely reflects the structure and intent of REACH.
Following the 2016 referendum, the United Kingdom withdrew from the EU on 31 January 2020 and left the single market at the end of the implementation period on 31 December 2020. To ensure continuity, the UK retained (“assimilated”) the entire body of EU chemical legislation into domestic law from 1 January 2021, with amendments made to ensure it could operate effectively in a national context and with transitional arrangements introduced where appropriate. This retained legislation applies to businesses based in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) but not Northern Ireland - under the Northern Ireland Protocol, EU chemicals legislation continues to apply.
For now, UK chemical regulations remain broadly comparable to their EU counterparts. However, the UK’s withdrawal from the EU has already had significant implications for businesses. For example, a GB-based business purchasing chemicals from an EU supplier is now considered an importer under UK law, so they gain duties that did not previously apply. In many cases, transitional arrangements are still in effect to ease these impacts for a period of time. And over time, divergence between EU and UK chemical regulations will increase. The UK has not adopted most of the changes made to EU legislation since Brexit, nor has it kept pace with the EU on changes to the regulatory status of substances under it.
How chemical regulations interact with other laws
Chemical regulation does not operate in isolation. It underpins and influences a wide range of other legal frameworks.
For example:
A change in the hazard classification of a substance under CLP can affect workplace controls, bring businesses within environmental permitting regimes, affect waste classifications, impact consumer safety requirements or make businesses subject to major accident hazard regulations.
A new restriction under REACH may require changes to product formulations, force substitution to alternatives, impact supply chains or require safety documentation to be revised.
Updates to REACH exposure scenarios, in particular, risk management measures, can trigger changes to workplace safety assessments, control measures or safety reports.
Understanding these interconnections is essential for making proportionate, defensible decisions - and for avoiding unintended consequences elsewhere in the regulatory landscape.