Yesterday, the European Parliament Environment Committee voted in favour of a resolution against the draft decision from the EU Commission to grant an authorisation for using sodium dichromate, which is classified as cancerogenic, mutagenic and toxic for reproduction.
The application for authorisation was submitted by the Italian company Ilario Ormezzano Sai with the intention of continuing to use this chemical for dyeing of wool.
REACH regulation clearly states that no authorisation should be granted if there are alternatives available on the market.
In this case, alternatives are, however, readily available, comparable in cost and performance and, actually, used by the majority of wool houses in the European Union.