They are an integral part of most human activities and production processes and they are present in most consumer products, be it for food, electronics, toys, clothes or industrial machines. They have contributed to the improvement of human health and life expectancy, and to our societal comfort and wellbeing.

They play an important role in the EU industrial competitiveness and creating jobs. On the flipside, however, are the potential and actual human health and environment risks that result from exposures to hazardous chemicals. The overall aim of 50 years of EU policy on chemicals is to promote their safe use with a view to improving their overall sustainability including human health and environment protection, competitiveness, innovation, internal market, growth and jobs. To do so the EU chemicals legislation (what we call today, 'the European Union chemicals acquis') identifies hazardous chemicals and, for those chemicals where the human health and environmental risks require action, establishes measures to manage these risks.