Are chemical suppliers and consumers responsible?

Before the official or manufacturer, the media, environmental and consumer organizations, and even family and friends are the preferred sources of information. It is questionable whether family members and friends are better at researching harmful substances in products than others. Therefore, these results may be interpreted as dissatisfaction with existing information sources, reflecting personal uncertainty.

These data may indicate that the risk communication provided by the authorities or manufacturers did not meet the expectations of consumers, or even the well-informed and interested consumers, and that environmental and consumer organizations generally enjoy great benefits not only among their members, but also among non-members. Good reputation.

Are chemical suppliers and consumers responsible?

In the current research, the most interested and informed consumers believe that legislators should be responsible for reducing harmful substances in products, followed by consumers, and thirdly, manufacturers. This allocation of responsibilities does not comply with the "polluter pays" principle, which is one of the basic principles of environmental policy, which transfers the responsibility to the manufacturer. The REACH regulation requires manufacturers and importers to assume responsibility for managing chemical risks and to prove that their products are safe before they are put on the market. The legally defined liability depends on the legal framework and product type. Contrary to the REACH regulations and the polluter pays principle, consumers bear a large part of the responsibility for the use of personal care products.

Three-quarters of survey participants believe that consumers are responsible for reducing harmful substances in consumer products. This result may reflect the high motivation of the "best case" study participants, who are prepared to take responsibility for themselves, which once again demonstrates their high commitment to improving the situation. They seem to be aware of the contribution of each consumer to overall pollution and waste of resources, but they do not realize that they will overburden ordinary consumers and make them bear the responsibility of reducing harmful substances in their products. The data from this survey also shows that informed consumers are too responsible for making informed choices about harmful chemicals in products.

When consumers in EU member states were asked about their views, who should ensure the safety of chemical substances, 60% answered that manufacturers should have this role, 57% said EU authorities, and 49% said national authorities responsible. Interestingly, the survey did not provide "consumers" or "environmental and consumer organizations" as potential answers. These two options were selected by a high percentage of participants in this survey.

Limitations of the study

In this survey, we were unable to check whether those who chose the information source actually used this information source in the daily practice of the products they purchased, and whether they also understood the information correctly. It cannot be ruled out that the term "hazardous substances" is not correctly understood by all participants. Some participants confuse "hazardous products" and do not know that many "safe products" contain hazardous substances. The survey also does not allow to infer whether the respondent has adopted risk mitigation strategies when they know that the products they are handling contain hazardous substances. The current sampling of study participants is not random, but represents a "best case" choice; however, self-reported demographic data has not been verified, and the age group of participants is not evenly distributed. The demographic question on educational level provides no more than six possible answers to allow the author to analyze this demographic factor pragmatically. Research participants indicate that they are members of environmental or consumer organizations and do not need to name the organization. Research participants can report whether they think they or their family members have chemical intolerances according to their own standards, and do not distinguish between allergic skin reactions, food intolerances, respiratory diseases or other health problems.