The RF federal law “On chemical safety” as a tool for minimizing population health risks caused by dealing with hazardous chemical wastes

Abstract

The article contains information on hazardous chemical wastes, reasons that cause their occurrence and accumulation in the environment as well as issues related to accumulation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environmental objects. The authors outline specific features of POPs and their possible influence on the environment and a human body; they also dwell on priority activities accomplished in the RF in relation to POPs after Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollution was ratified. Provisions of international law in the sphere of providing chemical safety are being consolidated now and operating bodies of Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions interact with each other in order to fix concentrations for chemicals which are persistent organic pollutants and to determine their low contents in wastes. The European Union countries and Canada have submitted their proposals on concentrations of 21 various chemicals in wastes for consideration by all the concerned parties. Scientific validity of the proposed concentrations has been analyzed; the analysis results are given in the article. Given the hazards caused by chemicals wastes that contain POPs for people and the environment, the authors suppose that additional research should be performed on substantiation of POPs safe concentrations in wastes. Taking into account national security and common provisions of international laws related to solving global, national, and regional tasks, the authors note that it is necessary to update legislation on state regulation in the sphere of providing chemical safety; they also give grounds and outline conceptual approaches to creation of the Federal Law "On chemical safety". The article gives a basic idea of this law; its purpose; an object of its regulation; people or economic entities whose activities are subject to its force; a place this law, when passed, is going to have in the RF federal legislation and a system of international agreements that are ratified by the RF. It should be noted that when the Federal Law "On chemical safety" is adopted, it will allow to reduce negative effects produced by hazardous chemical wastes on population and the environment and will have both medical and social-economic outcomes

Keywords

• chemical wastes
• persistent organic pollutants
• stability
• bioaccumulation
• cross-border transfer
• toxicity
• chemical safety
• international conventions
• federal laws