The Rapid Screening Approach
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 ecological harm, given conservative (worst-case) 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 screening assessment work. 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) or (b) 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 was released on the CEPA Registry website on December 9, 2006. The rapid screening approach has since been refined and a final version has now been released.
Results of Rapid Screening
The rapid screening approach has now been used to evaluate 1066 substances believed to be of lower ecological concern. These substances are those that were anticipated to have a low likelihood of posing a risk in the environment, and for which the categorization information also indicates a low priority for assessment from a human health perspective. The results of the application of the rapid screening approach have now been released.
Substances recommended for no further action
After evaluating the 1066 substances of lower concern using the rapid screening approach, the Government proposes to conclude that, based on available information, 754 of the substances do not meet the criteria set out under section 64 of CEPA 1999. As a result, the Government proposes to take no further action with respect to these substances at this time. A summary of the rapid screening results for these substances was published in the Canada Gazette in a document entitled: Publication after Screening Assessment of 754 Substances on the Domestic Substances List (Subsection 77 (1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999). There is a 60-day comment period (between June 23, 2007 and August 22, 2007) associated with this publication.
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 new inventory update program, which is planned for implementation in 2009-10. 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 312 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 medium priority for assessment as a result of categorization. A priority-setting framework will be developed and used for establishment of the next round of priorities under the Chemicals Management Plan. Further information and details will follow in the coming months.
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