I am a fish - 11-7-2003 at 03:12
Check out the following article:
Brussels demands safety checks on salt and vinegar
In summary, proposed European Union legislation will demand that all products based on synthetic chemicals must undergo stringent and costly safety
tests. If this nonsense goes through, it is estimated that between 16% and 40% of all chemical products will be withdrawn for economic reasons.
Whilst this legislation will predominantly affect amateur chemists in the EU, the impact could be felt around the world as any company selling to EU
countries will obviously have to adhere to the regulations.
axehandle - 23-2-2004 at 06:52
That gives me one more reason to continue fighting for Sweden to leave the EU.
I voted NO to joining in the first place.
/A
Organikum - 23-2-2004 at 07:03
"the area you want to access is behind registration..."
vulture - 23-2-2004 at 07:32
You're talking about REACH, right?
I was fearing this would happen. I hope they ban any form of smoking too then...
Quantum - 23-2-2004 at 13:00
Why do you want to ban Smoking Vulture? If someone wan't to pump toxins into their own body let them.
Libertarians!
Pyrovus - 24-2-2004 at 00:53
Besides, there's a whole load of useful chemicals in cigarettes! Formaldehyde, ammonia, acetone, arsenic compounds, hydrogen cyanide, hydrazine,
acetaldehyde, polonium (don't know how THAT gets in them!), benzene, butane, mercury . . .
So, just devise a way to seperate them all out, and problem solved! Cigarettes finally put to good use.
vulture - 24-2-2004 at 02:08
Why do you want to ban Smoking Vulture? If someone wan't to pump toxins into their own body let them.
Yer, but they're breathing their own shit through filters, whereas everyone else breathes their shit unfiltered.
They're screaming bloody murder if there's 1ppm of nitrosamine in their food, yet they produce more than 30 in >ppm levels.
Marvin - 25-2-2004 at 11:14
A lot of tobacco grows in areas of high radon. The decay products (polonium being one) condense on the leaves. Just by the by.
unionised - 25-2-2004 at 15:20
Given that there are not enough test labs the testing won't happen.
Also the Times article talking about salt and vinegar is wrong, the regulations explicitly exclude food products.
Here is the relevent bit of the regulation.
http://europe.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2003/act0644en03/1.p...
It's about page 78 that food get's a mention.
They also exclude materials produced in quantities less than a ton and those produced for R and D so the direct effect on amateur chemists will be
minimal.
A newspaper article that said "manufacturers will be obliged to show that their products are safe before they market them" wouldn't
sell many copies
[Edited on 25-2-2004 by unionised]
I am a fish - 25-2-2004 at 15:40
You wait 7 months for a reply, then 8 come along at once 
(If you don't know
what I'm talking about, check the date of my original post.)
It would actually make more sense if the regulations only applied to food. After all, any toxic effects will be far more serious if that product is
intended to be ingested in large quantities.
Also, why is it only synthetic chemicals that must be tested? Anyone who thinks that natural substances are safe should bear in mind that anthrax,
asbestos, hemlock, cocaine, uranium ore and ricin are all natural.
vulture - 26-2-2004 at 09:09
How many scientists are into politics?
How many politicians are into science?
I rest my case...