Chemical Substances
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The Rapid Screening Approach
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- Updated Draft Screening Assessment of Substances of Low Concern Using the Rapid Screening Approach
- Results of Rapid Screening
- Background
Updated Draft Screening Assessment of Substances of Low Concern Using the Rapid Screening Approach
On June 18, 2011, the updated draft screening assessment of substances of low concern using the rapid screening approach, was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I. A summary of the updated draft screening assessment is available:
The full text of the updated draft screening assessment report is available:
There is a 60-day public comment period associated with this publication, from June 18, 2011 to August 17, 2011. Public comments may be submitted on the draft screening assessment. Details on how to submit public comments can be found within the Canada Gazette Notice. Please note that the public comment period will not be extended. Given the Government's commitment to finalizing the screening assessments, any information received after the end of the public comment period may not be taken into consideration in the final assessment report.
Substances Recommended For No Further Action
After evaluating the 1047 substances of low concern using the rapid screening approach, the Government proposes that, based on available information, 545 of the substances do not meet the criteria set out under section 64 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999).
The Government is committed to identifying and addressing all substances that may pose risks to the environment or to human health. Therefore, in order to validate the assumptions made under this rapid screening approach, further information regarding the current quantities of these substances that are in commerce in Canada will be obtained through the Government's inventory update program. In addition, substances that have been found, through rapid screening, not to meet the criteria under section 64 of CEPA 1999 may still be addressed, if warranted, under future research and monitoring programs, or as part of future assessments of groups of substances.
Substances Requiring Further Assessment
The remaining 502 substances which underwent rapid screening have been identified as requiring further screening assessment in order to evaluate their potential to cause harm. These substances have therefore been incorporated into the group of substances that are of remaining priority for assessment as a result of categorization.
Results of Rapid Screening
The rapid screening approach has now been used to evaluate 1047 substances believed to be of lower ecological concern. These substances are those that met ecological categorization criteria that were considered have a low likelihood of posing a risk in the environment. None of the substances met categorization criteria for human health. The results of the application of the rapid screening approach have now been released.
Background
An important initiative under the Chemicals Management Plan is the rapid screening of substances that the Government considers to be of low concern. The rapid screening approach uses a series of qualitative and quantitative steps to efficiently evaluate the likelihood that a substance may cause harm, given conservative estimates of exposure. At each step in the rapid screening process, any substance that appears to present a potential for harm will be identified as requiring further assessment. For those substances that pass through all steps of the rapid screening without being identified as requiring further assessment, the Government will conclude that the substances are unlikely to meet the criteria set out in paragraphs 64(a), (b) or (c) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. The Government's intent to apply a rapid screening approach was announced in the Canada Gazette in a document entitled: Notice of application of a Rapid Ecological Screening Approach Under Section 74 to Substances Categorized Under Section 73 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.
A draft issue paper outlining this rapid screening approach (ecological considerations) was released on the CEPA Registry website on December 9, 2006. This paper was revised and a final version was released in June, 2007.
Draft Screening Assessment of Substances of Low Concern Using the Rapid Screening Approach
On June 23, 2007, a summary of the screening assessment of substances of lower ecological concern, using the rapid screening approach, was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I:
There was a 60-day comment period (between June 23, 2007 and August 22, 2007) associated with this publication. Public comments were received, and are summarized in the following table:
Following the close of the public comment period, all information that was received relating to the draft screening assessment was considered in the preparation of the updated draft screening assessment.
