Orgkhim urges ban of carcinogenic tires in Russia
ERJ staff report (TP)
Nizhny Novgorod, Russia – Rubber chemicals supplier Orgkhim is pressing the Russian government to ban carcinogenic tires.
In December 2012, Orgkhim prepared a draft titled “The Technical Regulation on Restriction of Sales and Application of Tires, Rubbers, Rubber Articles and Process Oils used in Their Production Containing Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons”.
This regulation was developed on the basis of best world practices used in the EU, US and Japan since 2005. The regulation sets out limits of permissible content of carcinogens in articles and defines measuring methods.
In March 2014, the Russian Government considered the proposed regulation during its parliamentary hearings regarding environmental laws and expressed active support of its ideas and principles.
This month, Orgkhim released a press release concerning its efforts and ambitions.
The firm said: “The introduction of a ‘Technical Regulation’ provides a possibility to force carcinogenic tires out of the Russian market and protect the population from the risk of oncologic diseases, especially in the big cities.
“More than half of all tires sold in Russia contain a carcinogenic hazard. Of course, all Russian tire makers use non-carcinogenic oils to a certain extent but only global companies and the Russian manufacturer Cordiant have completely switched to safe oils.
“One of the main factors that prevent Russian companies from switching to green oils is cheap tires coming from countries with loose legislation in the sphere of carcinogenic oils. However, the switch to green oils does not require any significant investments on the part of tire producers.
“That is why all of them are ready to move in this direction but only on the condition that the entry to the Russian market is officially closed for carcinogenic products.”
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