EU indicator framework for chemicals

The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) is part of the EU’s Zero Pollution ambition. The CSS aims to prevent harm to people and the environment from hazardous chemicals and support the EU industry in producing safe and sustainable chemicals.

The European Environment Agency is publishing the EU indicator framework for chemicals: an indicator dashboard developed with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the European Commission, and a series of other European agencies, accompanied by a synthesis report written jointly with ECHA (link available below).

The chemicals indicator dashboard is composed of 25 quantitative indicators providing insights into the drivers and impacts of chemical pollution in the EU. The indicators are complemented by 22 signals. Signals provide additional insights (qualitative and/or quantitative data) and may indicate a trend for a specific phenomenon that is deemed worth exploring despite incomplete coverage.

Indicator dashboard

The dashboard is organised according to the toxic-free hierarchy of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability:

Individual indicators may not be sufficient, in themselves, to directly assess the drivers and impacts of chemical pollution. However, the dashboard should, as a whole, support the measurement of progress towards the CSS policy objectives, assist in monitoring the effectiveness of chemicals legislation and help identify the need for future action. The synthesis report below provides such overarching assessment.

Read the synthesis report

Indicator framework under the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability

The development of the indicator framework for chemicals is one action point under the CSS. The framework was developed by the EEA, ECHA and the European Commission.

The proposed framework consists of existing and newly developed indicators and signals. Some existing indicators are also part of other related monitoring frameworks such as the zero pollution monitoring and outlook framework.
Underlying data shared in the dashboard originate from a series of European agencies namely, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in addition to data from ECHA, EEA and the European Commission.

Since actions under the CSS have only recently been initiated, the dashboard should be seen as a baseline and a living product that will be updated as new data and information become available.

Drivers and impacts of chemical pollution can be identified at the different stages of the chemicals lifecycle i.e., from manufacturing to waste. The figure below shows that some stages are better covered by the framework, allowing the identification of data gaps that could be addressed in the future.