NEWS

12.02.07
New ICMM publication encourages more accurate risk assessment for metals

The reversal of the burden of proving that the manufacture and use of a material carries minimal risk is placing greater onus on producers and product manufacturers to undertake their own scientific assessments. Nowhere is this trend more evident than in Europe as demonstrated by the EU’s new chemicals management legislation - REACH. Ensuring that risk assessment methodologies are adapted to reflect the specificities of metals and minerals is therefore vital to allow fair assessment and comparison in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

In response to this challenge, ICMM has released Metals Environmental Risk Assessment Guidance (MERAG). This new publication is the result of a three-year project developed with Eurometaux and endorsed by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The project has developed a comprehensive set of the most advanced and appropriate scientific concepts for assessing the environmental risks posed by metals and inorganic metal compounds. These concepts are presented in a series of eight fact sheets which have been peer-reviewed by a panel of leading independent scientists. The fact sheets are intended to be ‘living documents’ and will be updated and supplemented as the science continues to evolve.

MERAG concepts are already being used in several countries, including the US. According to Dr Anne Fairbrother of the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), MERAG is “an important source of relevant science about metals and was valuable in the development of our Framework for Metals Risk Assessment”.

For mining and metals companies this initiative is an important aspect of materials stewardship, whereby companies are extending their interest beyond the plant gate and considering the whole life cycle of their material.

For additional information, please contact benjamin.davies@icmm.com.

Electronic copies of the MERAG document and fact sheets can be downloaded from our publications section. To obtain a hard copy of MERAG please email info@icmm.com.

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Implement risk management strategies based on valid data and sound science.

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