SAICM’s new policy brief addresses concern in textile chemicals

SAICM’s new policy brief addresses concern in textile chemicals.

The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) has published a policy brief that addresses chemicals of concern in textiles, among other products, and efforts to minimise their impacts on human health and the environment.

Entitled ‘Understanding Chemicals in Products’, the policy brief is part of a Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded project on ‘Global Best Practices on Emerging Chemical Policy Issues of Concern under SAICM’.

The brief focuses on textiles, as well as the toys, electronics and building materials sectors. It notes that transparency about chemicals in global supply chains has been an issue since 2009, leading to action such as the UN Environment Programme’s Chemicals in Products (CiP) programme.

It says hazardous chemicals in textiles production include stain resistance coatings and pesticides from cotton production, and that some of these chemicals can persist in the environment, build up in the body, and affect immune and reproductive systems.

The policy brief discusses measures to reduce chemicals of concern through legislation, regulations, standards and certification mechanisms, and by ensuring that brands control their suppliers to ensure compliance.

It also examines holistic tools such as life cycle assessment tools and eco-innovation; production tools that seek to minimise exposure and focus on cleaner and responsible production and chemical leasing; and consumption tools that focus on consumer behaviour, including sustainable public procurement and ecolabels.

The GEF-funded project, which is being implemented in more than 40 countries, also seeks to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) is a policy framework to promote chemical safety around the world. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems.