Description

Chemicals Management Policy includes a broad array of voluntary and regulatory efforts regarding the safe and environmentally sound manufacture, distribution, handling and disposal of chemical products, intermediates and wastes.  This encompasses testing products to assess hazards, evaluating potential exposures to products in intended applications to identify and manage risks, registering new products with proper authorities and notifying all interested parties of potential hazards and safe-handling procedures.

Dow is committed to continually improving the safety of its products throughout their life-cycle through providing best-in-class product stewardship.  This is exemplified by Dow's public reporting of its performance toward Dow's 2015 Sustainability goals.  More information on these goals is available at http://www.dow.com/commitments/goals/.

Dow strives to develop, manufacture, transport and market its products in a safe and responsible manner.  Dow works to ensure its products are handled safely and recycled or disposed of appropriately.  Dow welcomes appropriate review by governments to maintain and enhance public acceptance of its operations and products.

Dow’s Position

Dow supports a consistent, coordinated regulatory environment for products at global, national and regional levels to complement industry voluntary efforts and to ensure a level playing field.  Where new or updated regulations are required, they should be based on established scientific principles that define safe conditions for use and impose requirements to assure that use is controlled within predefined safe conditions.  Such a system must rely on risk assessment and risk management principles that are predictable, flexible and capable of responsibly addressing society's economic, environmental and safety requirements.

Dow's Principles for Chemical Management Systems:

• A chemical management system should be risk-based.
• The system should screen all chemicals (new and existing) to determine further information needs in a tiered, risk-based approach.
• The system should initially leverage available information.
• The system should recognize the shared responsibilities of each party in the value-chain.
• The system should promote transparency.

A more detailed description of Dow's Principles for Chemicals Management Systems is available at http://www.dow.com/commitments/goals/principles.htm

Dow's Actions and Commitments

• Dow is actively engaged globally with regulators and other stakeholders to advocate for updated and newly-developed chemical management policies that are consistent with Dow's Principles for Chemical Management Systems.
• Dow has long been recognized as a leader in the development and implementation of product stewardship to ensure the safe manufacture, distribution, sales, use and disposal/recycle of its products globally.
• Dow is constructively engaged throughout the world in working with key stakeholders to develop risk-based chemicals management policy (e.g., EU REACH, Canadian Environmental Protection Act and US TSCA) that is predictable for industry investment and customers while meeting societal expectations.
• Dow has volunteered, either on its own or with other chemical producers, to provide health, safety and environmental information on more than 180 chemicals as part of the High Production Volume Challenge program and other voluntary test programs globally.
• Dow has been a leader and strong proponent of the industry's Long-Range Research Initiative to ensure funding of basic toxicology and the development of environmental and exposure test methods.
• Dow is leading the global implementation of Responsible Care® and product stewardship through the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA).

For additional Dow information visit:  Product Safety http://www.dow.com/productsafety/