Chemicals

Chemicals and consumer products

The impact of chemicals on human health and the environment has long been a matter of concern for manufacturers and retailers when considering product formulation, development and manufacture.

All Boots products are in some way made or processed using chemicals, we simply cannot exist as a business without them. That is why we've highlighted the use of chemicals as a key sustainability indicator for the company. Simply put, if we can't manage the use of chemicals in an ethical and safe manner our business will not continue to thrive.

It is against this backdrop that we've committed to take a leadership position within the retail sector to openly and transparently resolve issues and to ensure that the trust our customers have in Boots brand is maintained.

While safety will always be our first priority in our decision making processes, we will also recognise the importance that our customers attach to product availability and efficacy in satisfying human need and the social usefulness fulfilled by such products. We will always seek solutions that protect our customers without depriving them of the products they expect to purchase from us.

Boots precautionary approach

"Where there are reasonable grounds for concern that a chemical used in our product could be harmful to human health or the environment, we will always take appropriate precautionary measure."
- Chair of the Boots Chemical Working Group 2003

Applying our precautionary approach requires judgments to be made about the nature and level of threat to human health and the action that should be taken, if any, to lessen or eliminate the potential harm.  This is beyond legal compliance.

To enable us to continue to provide safe products for current and future generations of Boots customers, and to make informed decisions on their behalf, our Chemicals Working Group is charged with maintaining a database of chemicals and to provide the business with expert, impartial advice on the use of chemicals. The working group is made up of specialists from a number of disciplines, including chemistry, toxicology and environment management, and was responsible for the development and publication of our policy (This link will open in a new window) and strategy (This link will open in a new window) on the use of chemicals published in 2003 following a stakeholder dialogue process independently hosted by the Environment Council. This strategy, signed off in 2003 at Boots board level, commits us to take a precautionary approach to the use of chemicals to ensure that we only use chemicals with a proven safe history of use.

We set realistic but challenging targets and objectives as appropriate. We take account of facts, on-going debates, public perception and stakeholder dialogue to ensure that we're addressing the right issues at the right pace, and then take decisive action for the benefit of our customers, the environment, our business and society as a whole. Our targets are published in our Priority Substances List (This link will open in a new window), which is updated regularly and details the chemicals of concern (and their uses) and the action we are taking on them. In assessing continuing or future use of a particular chemical, the chemicals working group gives close consideration to a number of factors:

• Immediate health hazard and longer term threats to health (bio-accumulation etc)
• Environmental (cradle-to-grave) impacts
• Product efficacy
• Availability and cost of alternatives
• Regulatory constraints
• Customer concerns

We're constantly working to improve our performance in this area and are committed to further developing our expertise on green chemistry while exploring how green and sustainable chemistry solutions can be used in consumer products. We're committed to improving the way we communicate the work we do around Green Chemistry.  We will continue to examine best practice within the industry in order to increase our ability to influence our supply chain on issues relating to the safe use of chemicals.

Implementing EU Chemicals Regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation of CHemicals - REACH)

After much development work since 2001 for an EU chemicals regulation, REACH finally came into force on 1st June 2007 and will take a projected 15 years for full implementation. We believe we have a part to play in making REACH work, helping to find ways to ensure that chemicals are used safely, while maintaining the competitiveness and enhancing the innovative capability of the EU chemicals industry. Boots continues to support the implementation of REACH to ensure that we have a trusted legislative system for the management of chemicals across Europe. We're committed to supporting our supply chain, and to demonstrate this we have hosted supplier conferences on REACH in the UK, China and Thailand to ensure roles and responsibilities are fully understood. We're also committed to working with enforcement bodies to ensure compliance throughout our supply chains.