European justice has confirmed the cancellation of the classification and labeling “Carcinogen” Titanium dioxide, a chemical substance used in particular in paintings, medicines or toys, a victory for industry industrialists, to the detriment of workers and consumers, estimate associations.
In a judgment rendered Friday, August 1, the Court of Justice of the European Union based in Luxembourg judged on appeal that the European Commission was wrong to adopt in 2019 a regulation classifying titanium dioxide (TIO2) as a carcinogenic substance for humans “By inhalation, in the form of powder containing at least 1 % particles of 10 micrometers”.
She thus confirmed a first judgment of the court on November 23, 2022, believing that the Commission “Had made a manifest error” By judging reliable a scientific study on which the carcinogenic classification was based.
If the Court admits that the court “Has exceeded the limits of its jurisdictional control” Because he doesn’t “Did not belong to decide” This debate on the relevance of the scientific criteria selected, it deems “Nevertheless justified” its cancellation decision.
A setback for justice
This decision is a setback for France and the European Commission which had appealed at the end of 2022, and a victory for the manufacturers and importers of the titanium dioxide, who disputed this classification, based on a notice of the risk assessment committee of the European Agency of Chemicals (ECHA) of 2017 and proposed the previous year by a French health agency, ANSES.
The appeal of France and the commission being suspensive, carbon dioxide had remained classified carcinogenic. Foodwatch deplores “An important decline in the protection of citizens and consumers” and a “Unquestionable victory for the powerful industrial lobbies which have put significant pressure on the European authorities”.
These same industrialists “Have refused for years to provide the ECHA for information on the nanos forms of the substance, making its work all the more difficult”Natacha Cingotti point, in charge of campaigns at Foodwatch International.
“It is a more than regrettable setback in terms of information and protection of workers”because this decision “Remove the danger labeling obligation on TIO2 powders”reacts Mathilde Detcheverry, of the Avicenn association, dedicated to the day before and information on nanoparticles.
