Industrin ska registrera kemikalier - Chemicals In Our Life

Industry to register chemicals

There are thousands of different chemicals on the market. Those used in Europe above one tonne need to be registered so we can know more about their potential impact on our health and the environment.

The chemical industry converts raw materials such as oil, natural gas, air, water, metals, and minerals into thousands of different products. The global production of chemicals has increased from one million tonnes in 1930 to several hundred million tonnes today. 

The exact number of chemicals on the market is still unknown, and many new ones are introduced each year.

The REACH Regulation, the EU’s chemicals legislation, requires chemicals that are manufactured or imported in the European Union or European Economic Area at or over one tonne a year to be registered. ECHA expects up to 30 000 chemicals to be registered by 2018. Companies need to provide information on the chemicals they produce and use, their hazardous properties and how they can be used safely. This way, we can know more about their potential impact on our health and the environment. Most of this data is published on ECHA’s website.

Follow the registrations of chemicals!

This map shows you the number of registrations ECHA has received from different countries. You can see where chemicals are produced or imported in the European Union / European Economic Area and what the most commonly registered chemicals are. 

In the EU, the chemical industry is worth more than 500 billion euros a year. It employs 1.2 million workers directly, and up to 3.6 million work in sectors using chemicals. 

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