Assessment and Prioritisation of Existing Chemicals on the AICS

As part of the reform regarding assessment of Existing Chemicals, NICNAS is implementing a new framework for the assessment and prioritisation of approximately 39,000 existing chemicals on the Australian Inventory of Chemical Substances (AICS).

 

This arises from recommendations from an independent review of the NICNAS Existing Chemicals Program and subsequent review conducted by the Productivity Commission ¹. The new framework aims to deliver:

 

• More timely information about the hazards and risks associated with the use of industrial chemicals;
• Identification of chemicals which require risk mitigation to ensure safe use; and
• Identification of those chemicals that require a more in-depth assessment to fully determine their human health and environmental effects.

 

The new inventory multi-tiered assessment and prioritisation (IMAP) framework will be implemented in a staged manner, commencing with a focus on a subset of chemicals on the national inventory meeting characteristics supported by stakeholders. This includes chemicals for which NICNAS has exposure (volume) information (e.g. information on industrial chemicals used in high volumes was collected in 2006), a subset of chemicals that are already risk managed overseas (e.g. chemicals restricted in the EU and identified as chemicals of concern in the Canadian prioritisation and assessment project) and chemicals detected in human blood.

 

It is envisaged that this first stage will comprise the first two tiers of the framework, address approximately 3,000 chemicals and take four years to complete, with commencement anticipated in 2012-2013. This stage will also include an external review of the new framework by an independent international expert who will make recommendations on the most efficient and effective approach to managing the remainder of the chemicals on the inventory. Funding options for stage one will be developed in 2011-12 as part of the current review of the NICNAS Cost Recovery Impact Statement.

 

Planning for the implementation of this new framework is underway, including consideration of the governance arrangements and key implementation milestones.

 

More Information

 

• The inventory assessment and prioritisation (IMAP) framework; and
• Framework development - Consultation.

¹ http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/82331/
chemicals-plastics-regulation.pdf