Comparison of substitution status of chemical substances under REACH and OSPAR legislation

The EU REACH Regulation (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorisation of Chemicals) was adopted in 2006 to regulate the human and environmental risks of chemicals in all applications and will be implemented by 2018. So far, the environmental risks from offshore chemicals in the North Sea have been regulated by the Harmonised Mandatory Control Scheme developed by OSPAR. Both the OSPAR scheme and REACH identify hazardous substances based on their persistence, bioaccumulation potential and toxicity (PBT), but the mechanisms employed are different. As a result, carrying out OSPAR's declared aim of harmonising with REACH where possible will not be straightforward. The presented research compared the assessment and classification of chemicals used in offshore oil and gas production under OSPAR and REACH. The aim was to establish the extent of commonality in classification between the two regulatory frameworks as well as their specific differences due to the different foci of REACH (human health and environment) and OSPAR (marine environment). These intrinsic differences in the assessment of PBT substances were identified as the main challenge in harmonising the two pieces of legislation. At the same time, the comparison of OSPAR and REACH assessments for offshore chemicals provided insight in the driving factors for observed differences between assessments and highlighted the benefits and need of having targeted legislative frameworks that focus on the protection of specific aspects of the environment.