American Foreign Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

American Foreign Policy - Essay Example When there is an issue that needs to be discussed in regards to the foreign policy, each facet of the process serves their own agenda before looking at the overall responsibility of the decision. In this regard, it is evident that each of the working unit feels an essential player in the process and seeks to safeguard the interests of the particular arm of the state. This is both beneficial and detrimental to the presidential power and ability to make decisions. For the latter, the best decision is reached at, and a decision that favors all involved departments and thus the state. As for the former case, the solution that is realized is largely as a result of compromised standards, and conflicts amongst the involved officials. There is diversification of interests amongst the parties, some of whom may have undue influence thus negatively affecting the process and wasting more time in the same. Foreign policy bureaucracy suppresses rationalism in decision making. This is again influenced by the influence of a particular department in policy formulation. A good example to this is the reason that compelled the U.S. to attack in Iraq in 2003. Just rationalism was definitely not used in the final decision making process, given the issues that erupted thereafter. This is detrimental to the president’s personal choices but acts or the best of the nation. In foreign policy decision making, the President is the most powerful and central figure. Psychologically, the President is bound by some limitations as time and energy, ideology as well as rationality. With the presence of the foreign policy circle of advisers, the process of decision making is decentralized from the President making life and governance much easier. In this case, the bureaucracy in foreign policy safeguards the president from making decisions constrained by irrationality and psychological inabilities. Bureaucracy in foreign policy is decentralized to four components

Chemistry revision notes Essay Example for Free

Chemistry revision notes Essay The oxidation state or oxidation number, is a value assigned to a chemical species which represents its actual or nominal electrical charge. The oxidation number in a free or uncombined element is zero. This means that, metallic magnesium has an oxidation number of zero, and chlorine in Cl2 form has an oxidation state of zero. For simple ionic compounds, the oxidation state of the single atom ions is simply the charge on the ions. In most compounds the oxidation number for hydrogen is +1 and for oxygen is -2. The exceptions include the hydrides (the oxidation state is -1) and the peroxides (the oxidation state for oxygen is -1). In the compounds, halides usually have the oxidation number -1. The sum of all the oxidation numbers in a compound have to be equal to zero. The sum of all the oxidation states in a complex ion is the same as the charge on the ion. Semiconductors A covalent element such as silicon or germanium which has a higher conductivity than that of a typical non-metal but a much lower conductivity than that of a metal is described as a semiconductor. Semiconductors are also referred to as metalloids and they occur at the division between metals and non-metals in the Periodic Table. Key facts : 1. The electrical conductivity of semiconductors increases with increasing temperature. 2: Doping pure crystals of silicon or germanium with certain other elements produces 2 types of semiconductors: n- type and p-type semiconductors. The addition of small quantities of certain substances to pure silicon greatly enhance its conductivity and makes possible the construction of electronic devices. This controlled addition of impurities is called ‘doping’. 1. doping pure silicon with phosphorus or arsenic (group 5 elements) these elements have 5 valence electrons, a few of the silicon atoms are replaced by P, As atoms 1 electron is left over after the 4 bonds have been formed. The extra electron is free to conduct an electric current and the phosphorus-doped silicon becomes a conductor called n-type. B. doping with boron or aluminium (group 3 elements). By doping with an element having 3 valence electrons some of the silicon atoms are replaced by boron atoms, but because each boron has only 3 electrons, one of the four bonds to each boron atom has only 1 electron in it. We can think of this as a vacancy or hole in the bonding orbital. An electron from a neighbouring atom can move in to occupy this vacancy. As a result of this movement this type of conductor is called p-type. Superconductors 1. Superconductors are a special class of materials that have zero electrical resistance at temperatures near absolute zero. 2. Achieving temperatures near absolute zero is difficult and costly so application of superconduction at these temperatures is impractical. 3. Recently superconductors have been discovered which have zero resistance up to temperatures above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen- temperatures which are less costly to attain. 4. Superconductors may have a future applications in power transmission and electrically powered forms of transport.

Effects of Health Insurance on Small Businesses in the US

Effects of Health Insurance on Small Businesses in the US 1. Problem statement With over half of the American workforce employed by small businesses, these organizations are the backbone of the American economy. Small businesses are the innovators and the main employers in the American work force; they play a vital role in the nations economic recovery. But with the increasing government regulations over health insurance affecting their revenues, small business owners are facing peril in their near future which will affect not only the owners but the work force as a whole. 2. Description: How Small Businesses are being affected by Health Insurance? 2.1. Increased Health Insurance Charges Increased government regulations in terms of health insurance may cause increased financial strain on owners while decreasing their revenues dramatically. Many employers have a difficult time purchasing coverage for their workers because they have fewer employees, so the cost of health insurance per worker is higher than that for a corporation who has a larger employee pool. Insurance costs for small businesses have increased 129 percent since 2000. Small businesses with less than five hundred employees create more than two-thirds of the jobs in the American economy, but an excessive amount of their revenue is going toward inflated health insurance premiums, and not where it should be directed growth and expansion, which would lead to the employment of more individuals(Landrieu, 2009). 2.2. Payments of Small Businesses Employees Small business employees pay an average of 18% more in premiums than those in large firms for the same benefits. Small businesses and their employees are frequently charged more for the same health insurance coverage than large employers and their workers. Due to this the employers of the small businesses have to face greater difficulty in providing the facilities to their employees. 2.3. Health Insurance State Laws In many states, if business owners purchase insurance for themselves they must cover their employees as well. This leaves many sole-proprietors unable to afford the luxury of health insurance. They desire to cover their workers, but unlike bigger corporations and firms, they are unable to deduct the expense on their tax return. 2.4. Higher Administrative Costs The prices that small and large firms paid for health insurance and the value of the products purchased are similar. However, insurers of small health plans have higher administrative expenses than those who insure larger companies. Also, operating expenses are all higher for small health plans too. Small firms received slightly less generous health insurance benefits, according to calculations of actual value. For these reasons, small businesses offer health care coverage to a lower percentage of their work force and are a different type of customer than large firms. 3. Solution Improving access to credit by small businesses is a crucial step in supporting economic recovery and job creation. Since the financial crisis began, small businesses have faced a perfect storm: the pulling back of lending by banks, deterioration in the value of real estate that they often rely on for collateral and weakened sales. The following proposals can help solve our problem to an extent. 3.1. The Proposed Solutions Small business owners can benefit from a new proposal that would allow their workers to be pooled with the employees of other smaller businesses (Anonymous, 2009). The proposed solutions are Allow Insurance To Be Sold to Associations. There are some 16,000 associations in the United States, and six million people are already insured through such organizations as the National Association for the Self-Employed. Association health plans allow small business owners to pool resources, negotiate with insurers and purchase insurance plans for members. However, the existence of 50 sets of state regulations is a barrier to low-cost health insurance. If small firms could buy health insurance with uniform federal regulations, they could enjoy the same lower administrative costs and greater bargaining power as large firms. Let Businesses Purchase Health Insurance from Insurers in Other States. Protection from interstate competition allows politicians to impose expensive mandates and costly regulations. Allowing businesses to purchase coverage across state lines would create more competitive insurance markets. Interstate compe ­tition would give more people access to affordable insurance. Let Businesses Contribute to the Cost of Employee-Owned Insurance. Health insurance in the United States is largely tied to employment because employer contributions for health insurance are tax deductible business expenses and do not count as taxable income for employees. Premiums for employer-paid health benefits avoid all income taxes and the (FICA) payroll tax. By contrast, employees of small businesses without employer-provided health benefits get no tax relief. Small business employers should be able to contribute to the cost of health policies purchased by their employees. Their workers would get portability, but at premiums closer to the cost of group insurance. As a result, insurance coverage would follow people from job to job and workers would not face a disruption in benefits when their employment changes. 3.2. Benefits of the proposed solutions The proposed solutions can help the Small businesses in the following ways The insurance company would then be able to offer them lower rates; more employees would be pooled together, thus lessening the cost per person. Loosening government regulations and offering health insurance relief to sole-proprietors would bring about other benefits. The gained revenue could then be used to train employees properly, incorporate the tools necessary for their work to be completed in a timely and effective manner, and hire qualified, motivated employees with a strong work ethic. Their businesses would then be able to grow, thus decreasing the unemployment rate. This in turn would stimulate the economy and increase the betterment of life not only for the employees in question but for Americans as a whole. As the businesses will grow, this will develop greater struggle amongst the businesses and as a result will help in increasing the Competition. Competitive market always results in betterment. Small business owners and their workers will be focused Small business owners will be passionate about their businesses. Innovative small businesses are prize targets of larger corporations that often find it more cost-effective to acquire than to innovate on their own. By decreasing the pressure on these businesses, they will able to make more innovations. Small businesses know that their livelihood is based on their customers. Small is great for customers. Therefore, by reducing stress of these businesses, they will be able to provide better customer care. This topic has been researched using a number of different sources. For instance, ProQuest provides an abundance of information regarding the nature of the health insurance regulations that are being imposed on sole-proprietors. Two of the cited articles addressed the issue specifically from the sole-proprietors point of view which helps to shed some light on the issue on hand as to how these owners are directly affected by stringent health insurance regulations, what impact it has on both them and their employees and what would be the best course of action to take to make this work for everyone involved (Landrieu, 2009). The other article chosen was written in an objective point of view, stating the struggling nature of sole-proprietors, how they long to provide adequate health insurance for their workers but cannot manage to do so since it is not tax deductible. Some pertinent facts and statistics are also utilized in all of the cited publications in order to explore the effects of this issue and evaluate their implications. These articles do provide some quantitative statistical grounding, based on which some conclusions can be drawn. At the same time, most of the research on hand will be qualitative. In order to curb the limitations inherent to using the qualitative method exclusively, we must utilize the quantitative part as much as these resources allow. While the resources available wont solve the problem once and for all, the closeness of all the writers to both the insurance sector and to the small businesses promises to provide some valuable insight on the issue, from a both qualitative and quantitative approach. 4. Conclusion   People should be able to purchase, with pretax dollars, health plans that are portable from one job to the next, just as group plans do. Employers should be able to help pay the premiums on those individual plans. To avoid costly state mandates, small businesses should be allowed to purchase plans similar to those purchased by large companies that self-insure. If a solution for this problem of health insurance effecting small firms is solved, small businesses could create a national marketplace where insurance companies and care providers compete for individuals on price and quality. References Mary Landrieu. (2009,October9). Health Costs Are Crushing Small Businesses.Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), p.A.17. Retrieved October 21, 2009, from ProQuest National Newspapers Expanded. (Document ID:1875612881). Michael Weiser. (2009,October9). Insurance woes of a small business.Chicago Tribune, p.23. Retrieved October 21, 2009, from ProQuest National Newspapers Expanded. (Document ID:1875818001). NCHC | Facts About Healthcare Health Insurance Costs. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2009, from http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml Small businesses now have a difficult time.(2009,September8). The Washington Post, p.A.9. Retrieved October 21, 2009, from ProQuest National Newspapers Expanded. (Document ID:1854901361), Small Employers Struggle to Offer Health Insurance BusinessWeek. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2009, from http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/oct2009/sb2009106_487565.htm Small Business HealthInsurance Retrieved October 21, 2009, from http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba642 Network services and consulting corporation Retrieved October 21, 2009, from http://www.enetsc.com/doctorebiz.htm

Freudian Analysis of Hamlet Essay -- GCSE English Literature Coursewor

Freudian Analysis of Hamlet As a child, Shakespeare’s Hamlet had experienced the warmest affection for his mother, and this, as is always so, had contained the elements of a disguised erotic quality, still more so in infancy. The presence of two traits in the Queen's character accord with this assumption, namely her markedly sensual nature and her passionate fondness for her son. The former is indicated in too many places in the play to need specific reference, and is generally recognized. The latter is also manifest: Claudius says for instance (79), "The Queen his mother lives almost by his looks". Nevertheless Hamlet appears to have with more or less success weaned himself from her and to have fallen in love with Ophelia. The precise nature of his original feeling for Ophelia is a little obscure. We may assume that at least in part it was composed of a normal love for a prospective bride, though the extravagance of the language used (the passionate need for absolute certainty, etc.) suggests a somewhat morbid frame of mind. There are indications that even here the influence of the old attraction for the mother is still exerting itself. Although some writers, following Goethe, see in ophelia many traits of resemblance to the Queen, perhaps just as striking are the traits contrasting with those of the Queen. [...] Now comes the father's death and the mother's second marriage. The association of the idea of sexuality with his mother, buried since infancy, can no longer be concealed from his consciousness. As Bradley well says: "Her son was forced to see in her action not only an astounding shallowness of feeling, but an eruption of coarse sensuality, 'rank and gross,' speeding post-haste to its horrible delight"... ...d in continuing to "repress" the former he must strive to ignore, to condone, and if possible even forget the latter;his moral fate is bound up with his uncle's for good or ill. In reality his uncle incorporates the deepest and most buried part of his own personality, so that he cannot kill him without also killing himself. This solution, one closely akin to what Freud has shown to be the motive of suicide in melancholia, is actually the one that Hamlet finally adopts. The course of alternate action and inaction that he embarks on, and the provocations he gives to his suspicious uncle, can lead to no other end than to his own ruin and, incidentally, to that of his uncle. Only when he has made the final sacrifice and brought himself to the door of death is he free to fulfil his duty, to avenge his father, and to slay his other self — his uncle.

Assessing the Impact of Using Internet for Competitive Intelligence

Assessing the impact of using Internet for competitive intelligence Here is the summary of an interesting scientific paper dealing with the impact of using the Internet for competitive intelligence. The Internet, as an information-rich resource and interorganizational communication tool, has transformed the way that firms gather, produce and transmit competitive intelligence (CI). The aim of this article is to assess the impact of the Internet on CI and the subsequent effects on the organization. What is CI?It is a process of knowing what the competition is up to and staying one step ahead of it, by gathering information about competitors and ideally, applying this information in short- and long-term strategic planning. It refers to actionable information about the external business environment that could affect a company’s competitive position. CI is not industrial espionage given that 90% of all information that a company needs to make critical decisions and to understand it s market and competitors is already public or can be systematically developed from public data.The growth of the Internet has led to CI professionals exploiting its information richness and hypermedia capabilities for CI activities. By using the Internet, a company can monitor the presence, posture, products, and prices of other players in its industry. It can track the views of customers and seek out new ideas and expertise internationally. Model : they examine the downstream effects of using the Internet (for research, internal and external use) on quality of CI information and its subsequent effects on organizational performance.Concretely, the model could be summarized as followed: Research + Internal Use + External Use Quality of CI information Impact on organization The first three components symbolized the Internet Usage. Results and implications The results of this study indicate that using the Internet has a positive impact on the quality of CI information. There is a posit ive relationship between usage of CI information and organizational performance. It shows that the improved quality of CI information through Internet usage has a positive impact on organization.The results suggest that there is a direct positive link between usage of the Internet (for research, internal or external purpose) and the quality of CI information, and a positive downstream impact on the organizations’ strategic benefits. Although there may be some concerns about the reliability and timeless of information published on the Internet, there is little doubt that it is one of the most cost-effective means of obtaining information. However, data must be transformed into knowledge and order has to be created from the chaos of the Internet.The information overload from the Internet also makes focused research difficult but ‘intelligent agents’ have to be developed to automate and alleviate the CI professional’s information gathering workload. My opinio n: This paper has been written in 2001, which means a very long time ago when we are talking about the Internet and its information storage capabilities. Do you think this paper is no longer suitable for the current situation we are experiencing (empowerment of the customers through social medias, increased access to the Internet, hackers and so on) ?Moreover, they say that the ‘intelligent agents’ have to learn how to scan the information to find the relevant one and that it’s the most cost-effective means of obtaining information, do you think this notion is still true or must be nuanced ? Bron: â€Å"Assessing the impact of using Internet for competitive intelligence† Thompson S. H. Teo & Wing Yee Choo Information & Management 39 (2001) 67-83 http://www. cuaed. unam. mx/puel_cursos/cursos/d_gcfe_m_tres/modulo/modulo_3/m3-4. pdf

Global cities show a particularly high degree of social polarization Essay

Social polarization is a relatively new urban phenomenon that identifies the existence of a widening gap between the rich and poor within a social group or entity. This gap has developed in country’s societies as a result of ‘income equalities, real estate fluctuations and economic displacement’ (Moulaert 2003). The effects can be damaging to society and can include ‘a loss of resources, investment and young people to the core’ (Bradford and Kent 1995). I aim to discuss and explain social polarization in terms of the causes and effects on society, as well as the main catalysts of polarization. Many geographers believe that globalization is a process that ‘has enabled nation-states, TNCs, as well as individuals, to extend their reach across the globe’ (Daniels et al 2008). Globalization has meant that ‘national economies have become integrated into the international economy’ (Croucher 2004) as a result of trade, capital flows, foreign direct investment, migration and the spread of technology; leading to the growth of many sectors, especially the financial sector, where information is easily accessible via a technologically strong communications network. Some are of the belief that ‘Globalization leads directly to social polarization’ (Sassen 1991) The rapid growth in the financial sector has led to the formation of very well paid positions within financial institutes dominated by managers, executives and stockbrokers. However, it has also created large numbers of low-paying jobs, often filled by women and the minorities in unskilled positions. As a result of this, income inequality is common in global cities with salaries ranging greatly. The United Nations quoted that ‘between 1960 and 1990 country differentials between the wealthiest and poorest 20% increased from 30 to more than 60 (UNDP 1993)(Thrift et al 2002). This can lead to a number of problems, with the lower paid workers easily replaced by an abundant supply of workers moving to the area from abroad, known as the ‘urban immigrant population’ (Chao-Lin 2002). The replacement of low-income workers has become a problem in many global cities, for example in Beijing, the open door immigration policy as led to an influx of urban immigrants. Many social problems are caused as a result of this, such as stress at home and at work etc. This, in turn, widens the gap between the richer and poorer people in society; thus increasing social polarization. The ‘transnationals’ have, of course, greatly changed the economic environment. At the global scale their location of production in developing countries has contributed to what has been called a global shift’ (Bradford and Kent 1995). In the first half of the twentieth century the majority of manufacturing and production plants was concentrated in the core: Western Europe and North America. However, a ‘global shift’ (Bradford and Kent 1995) did occur and by the 1980s a third of TNCs had moved to global production in Newly Industrializing Countries (NICs) at the periphery. As these TNCs made more money and became financially stronger, there was a shift of power from the governments to the transnationals’. The TNCs have great control over some sectors of the economy, as government revenue from taxes is recycled (through wages) back into the large corporations. TNCs can cause a variety of problems by locating in developing countries, ‘the concentration of many transnationals’ activities in one area, often the core, may exacerbate inter-regional differences’ (Bradford and Kent 1995). Again, this will cause social polarization as different areas in a country, or town will show differences in amenities etc. due to a greater investment in infrastructure. However, this investment in the core regions is needed to service the large corporations. Investment will attract people, jobs and activity into the core regions, thus emphasizing the strength of the pull factors created by TNCs: more well paid jobs are created, better living conditions, more amenities etc. However, ‘this is often at the expense of peripheral regions which lose resources, investment and young people to the core – the so called backwash or polarization effects’ (Bradford and Kent 1995). Friedmann’s Core Periphery Model is relevant here as over time people are drawn from the periphery areas into the core, (See Figure 1). Transnationals’ can also cause problems if similar corporations locate in the same countries, thus leading to ‘segmentation of markets’ (classifying markets into distinct subsets with the same needs).   (Todd 1977). (Classifying markets into distinct subsets with the same needs). This can lead to social differences being accentuated, again relating back to differences in income inequality and quality of life at the core and periphery. Furthermore, particular cultures in countries have changed as a result of ‘acquisition of material goods’ (Bradford and Kent 1995). This has lead to people’s position in society being determined by possession or consumption of particular goods, causing anger and stress, which causes societies to began more polarized. To conclude; in my opinion social polarization, can only have a negative effect on societies and countries as stress and anger is caused as a result of concentrations of investment in core areas, leaving peripheral areas without amenities and jobs. As TNCs continue to increase in size the effects of polarization can only increase with the gap between different social groups increasing, as a result of income inequality and economic displacement. With increased control and power, soon TNCs will have even more control than some governments, and this can already be seen in some areas of the world with governments in India etc. being unable to stop sweatshop labour e.g. Nike in Bangladesh. Polarization shows gaps in society have begun to develop as local markets develop in global markets as a result of globalization and the growth of large corporations. References Bradford, M. and Kent, A. 1993 Understanding Human Geography: People and their   Ã‚  Ã‚   Changing Environments, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Chao-Lin, G.U. 2001 Social Polarization and Segregation in Beijing, Beijing, Science  Ã‚  Ã‚   Press, http://www.springerlink.com/content/h3w8112rj24l8468/fulltext.pdf, 29th  Ã‚  Ã‚   November Johnston, R.J., Taylor, P.J and Watts, M.J. 1995 The Reconfiguration of Late   Ã‚  Ã‚   Twentieth-Century Capitalism. In Johnston, R.J., Taylor, P.J and Watts, M.J.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (eds) Geographies of Global Change: Remapping the World, Blackwell   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Publishers Ltd., United Kingdom, 19-29. Moulaert, F., Swyndedouw, E. and Rodriguez, A. 2003 The Globalized City:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Economic Restructuring and Social Polarization in European Cities, Oxford   Ã‚   University Press, Oxford. Sassen, S. 2001 The Global City, Princeton University Press, USA Todd, D. 1977 Polarization and the Regional Problem: Manufacturing in Nova Scotia,    The University of Manitoba Geography Department, Canada. Figure 1. Rodrigue, Dr. J. P. Department of Economics and Geography, 1998 Bradshaw, M., Daniels, P., Shaw, D. and Sidway, J. 2008 An Introduction to Human  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Geography, Pearson Education Limited, England.   

Chemical Policy Regulation Essay

The European Commission’s Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) is a new system wherein manufacturers, distributors, and importers are required to sign-in their chemical inventories into a centralized database, along with information on physical and chemical properties, safe handling, hazards, and uses. Substances with carcinogenic, toxic, or mutagenic activity will require permission before being used, and any chemical whose risks are too unmanageable will be banned for use. REACH will thus be an aid in the management of information on chemicals, since it will demand that unknown data on chemicals currently in use be determined for registration purposes, and that new chemicals to be used by industry will now have a standardized procedure for the acquisition and distribution of information and control on their use. In detail, REACH will operate in the manner described in the following sentences. First, parties dealing in chemical products will be required to send a dossier of information on chemicals that they handle that are produced in excess of 1 metric tonne annually. Basic information will be required of chemicals dispensed in the range of 1-10 metric tonnes, while more will be asked of chemicals distributed in larger quantities. As an example of additional data that will be required, substances produced in excess of 10 tonnes annually should have an associated chemical safety report in which the hazard and risk assessment of the substance for specified uses must be outlined and how the risks posed by the chemical can be ‘adequately controlled’ for these uses. One component of the assessment is an â€Å"exposure scenario†, a summary of the use(s) and appropriate risk management measures for the substance studied. All the safety data then submitted for â€Å"substances of very high concern† and chemicals used in bulk will be evaluated by a panel of experts, and any chemical whose use cannot be justified in terms of its risk of use being under control or its socio-economic value outweighing risks considered will be subjected to a phase-out and replacement with safer alternatives, if there are any. REACH in effect is an implementation of the venerable â€Å"precautionary principle†, one statement of which being that the burden of proof of a chemical’s ability to deal severe or irreversible harm should be foisted upon the advocates of the chemical’s use, in the absence of evidence that the chemical is safe for use. To illustrate the importance of the â€Å"precautionary principle†, one only needs to look at dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and the organochlorine pesticides that followed. At the time of their introduction, they were widely accepted and hailed as being much safer than the inorganic pesticides such as the arsenicals that were then the mainstays of pest control. It was only after many years of use that their deleterious effects towards human health and the environment became noticeable. In short, the tenet â€Å"innocent until proven guilty† is not to be applied to chemicals that may require years of use before exerting ill effects, and by then the damage done may already be too difficult or impossible to undo. REACH aims to address issues such as safety, the phasing out of â€Å"substances of concern†, and the encouragement of innovation in industry. In detail, REACH can address health issues because, by its very nature, it will prevent the unnecessary use and needless release into the environment of substances whose risk of use cannot be justified as against the benefits that can be accrued. In this respect, if it can be shown that a substance under scrutiny has no justifiable reason for its continuous use because of the availability of environmentally benign alternatives, its phase out will be implemented as soon as possible. Finally, industry will be spurred, in theory, to research possible replacements for the hazardous chemicals that they currently use due to the pressure exerted by REACH to limit or stop the use of   hazardous chemicals, paving the way for innovations. To facilitate the implementation of REACH, the European Chemicals Agency will be established in Helsinki, Finland. The Agency will serve to coordinate the majority of the work related to chemical regulation and evaluation. Members of the European Union still wield responsibility, however. A large portion of the data gathered through REACH will be publicly accessible. The legislation aims to protect human health and the environment, but the risk of negatively impacting the European economy has been brought up by concerned parties. Efforts to strike a happy medium have been going on for several years. One side has talked about increases in the incidence of cancer and disorders related to the malfunction of the endocrines, while the other side has focused on burgeoning red tape, rises in costs and loss of jobs as businesses move away from Europe. Groups with vested interests in the chemical industry have been accused of lobbying to water down REACH for their benefit. As such, there are groups that say that REACH has loopholes that can enable unscrupulous industries to persist in using â€Å"substances of very high concern† for their convenience. While industry has sought to have REACH’s requirements loosened, European trade unions and environmentalists have joined forces in arguing for strong legislation. It is said that one in three work-related illnesses in the 15 older EU member states is due to chemical exposure. REACH also enjoys the backing of consumer groups and medical associations. A limitation of REACH is that it only applies to chemicals manufactured in or imported into the EU, and therefore is not applicable to chemicals that are incorporated into finished products. So a product like a television, or computer or shampoo made outside the EU could contain chemicals that are not registered under REACH – providing they are not banned under specific safety regulations (such as lead). Polymers (plastics, rubbers, and ilk) are excluded from the auspices of REACH for the time being, but monomers, or the chemicals used to make them, will still be covered by REACH. Pesticides, biocides and   human and veterinary pharmaceuticals are also exempt from REACH, the rationalization being that they are regulated under a different legislation from industrial chemicals. Industrial byproducts and waste are also not covered by REACH, but substances produced from waste or substances used in the processing of waste are covered by REACH. REACH defines what it calls â€Å"substances of very high concern† as substances that belong in any of these categories: substances that are cancer-causing (carcinogenic), mutation-inducing (mutagenic) or interfere with the body’s reproductive function (CMRs); substances that take a long time to break down (persistent), accumulate in the body (bioaccumulative) and are toxic (PBTs); substances that are very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvBs); and substances that have serious and irreversible effects on humans and the environment, for instance endocrine disrupting substances. Any new results in light of the effects of a chemical under scrutiny on the environment or human health can influence its retention or phasing out.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As an example of the chemicals that can fall under these previously mentioned classes, the previously mentioned organochlorine pesticides will fall under the PBT category; Alar, a plant growth regulator that was pulled out from the market due to concerns about the mutagenicity and carcinogenicity of one of its breakdown products will fall under CMR, and the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which, although nontoxic, tend to persist in the atmosphere to cause damage to the ozone layer will belong to the vPvB category. Note that a chemical only has to satisfy one of the set criteria of a certain category to belong.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hazard triggers are an approach where â€Å"substances of high concern† are classified according to the hazards they present when tested in various models. Hazard triggers can be used as an adjunct or substitute for risk assessment since it is usually faster and cheaper to use such. However, extrapolating results of lab tests to what can happen when a chemical is used outside the lab is not always accurate. It has happened in previous times that there were chemicals that exhibited no injurious effects in lab tests and were subsequently shown to be unsafe when used in the field. Conversely, there have also been cases where a chemical that was initially shown to cause serious health problems in animal models was barred from further use even if subsequent tests demonstrated that its use poses no risk to human health. As such, the evaluation of a chemical’s safety based on hazard triggers should proceed on a case-to-case basis, and should be thoroughly scrutinized. Example hazard triggers include persistence (measured in terms of half life in soil or aquatic medium), long-range transport (quantified by the DT50), and ecotoxicity (of which the LC50 is the quantifying parameter). – aims of REACH – controversial issues associated with the legislation – substances of `high concern` – hazard triggers and risk assessment – the implications of REACH for Environmental protection References BBC News (2005) Q&A: REACH Chemicals Legislation [online] accessed at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4437304.stm Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2004) Government Response to the Royal Commission on Environmental pollution Report on Chemicals in Products, Cm6300, HMSO [online] accessed at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/chemicals/ukpolicy.htm European Commission (2006) REACH in Brief, based on common position of the Council [online] accessed at http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/reach/index_en.htm The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production (nd) REACH – The New EU Chemicals Strategy: A New Approach to Chemicals Management [online] accessed at http://www.chemicalspolicy.org/reach.shtml REACH Compliance (2007) http://www.reach-compliance.eu/english/index.html