Introduction

Abstract

On June 1, 2007, the European Union (EU) passed an ambitious law requiring all chemicals to undergo testing to determine the potential effects of human exposure to these substances. The idea behind these regulations, the “precautionary principle,” asserts that chemical companies should have to prove that their chemicals are safe for human use before they are allowed on the market. Prior to this law, chemical sales had historically operated on the assumption that materials were safe until proven otherwise. Chemical safety is merely one policy area in which the EU is trying to apply this precautionary principle of risk management.