Summary
A Puzzling Decision Based on Flawed Logic
The EU's New Position on Borates
In the United States, the EPA is the governing body that tests and regulates potentially dangerous substances. In Europe, it is the European Commission’s Dangerous Substances Directive that governs the classification and labeling of substances that may pose a risk to human health under normal handling and use.
In a series of studies, laboratory animals, in this case rats, were given extremely high doses of borates over an extended period. During the course of the study, these rats were shown to have reproductive issues when artificially high doses of borates were given. This led to the EU’s decision to reclassify borates as a Category 2 Reproductive Toxin. This means that borate-based products will be required to be labeled with skull and crossbones. Additionally, since no company is willing to support borate use in retail pesticide category (which involves paying the $2,000,000 in costs associated with such support) borate pesticides will become unavailable to the consumers in the UK.
Unfortunately, with many borate-based products unavailable to consumers, more toxic and environmentally unfriendly products may be used.
The decision is curious as it does not even stand up to the EU’s own criteria. “Normal handling and use” was to be the barometer by which the substances are measured. In order to cause reproductive issues, the test animals were exposed to massive amounts of borates over an extended period of time. It would be nearly impossible for a consumer, or even a worker involved in the manufacturing of borates, to be exposed to these levels.
So, the EU still allows for borates to be used as a preservative in foods such as caviar. But the same level of borate cannot be used to kill slugs and snails in your garden. Maybe if you were serving escargot, the EU might allow it?
Borates have been used for hundreds of years in hundreds of applications. The general public’s biggest exposure to borates is the food that they eat as part of a normal diet.
These findings are in direct contradiction to the EPA’s findings and directives. In multiple studies, borates have been found to pose little health risk, and are actually an essential nutrient for good health.
The following links provide some in-depth commentary on the EU’s decision to re-classify borates. Simply click on the links below to download.
- Article from Richard Doome, MD
- Rio Tinto Article - Proposed Regulation of Borates
