Tenure at Austria's Environment Ministry
Dr. Thomas Jakl has worked in different high level policy positions, including the Head of EU-Presidency delegation for international negotiations (UN) in the field of chemicals policy during the Austrian Presidencies in 1998, 2006 and 2018, and as former President of EU Council working group on international environmental policy (chemicals) and Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). During Austria's third EU- Presidency 2018 he designed and implemented a special policy program to integrate resource efficiency and effectiveness evaluation as political goals into Chemicals Policy.
Dr. Jakl has led the Austrian delegation to the negotiating bodies for multilateral environmental agreements such as Montreal Protocol, Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, Stockholm Convention, the Rotterdam Convention, SAICM etc. He has been responsible for sector specific policies for organic solvents, nanomaterials, pesticides, detergents, endocrine disrupters etc.
Dr. Jakl is a prominent public key note speaker who addresses global issues pertaining to sustainable development, circular economy and environmental management. He is a prolific writer credited with over 150 publications in high quality newspapers, journals and books on various societal and environmental — science related issues. In August 2021 Thomas published his book "How bio is the Bobo?" (German: "Wie bio ist der Bobo") compiling 38 of his most influential and most commented essays. ISBN Paperback: 978-3-99129-237-1 ISBN Hardcover: 978-3-99129-235-7 ISBN E-Book: 978-3-99129-236-4
Dr. Jakl is one of the most influential thinkers on the subject of sustainable chemical management, and the foremost propounder of Chemical Leasing. He is the co-author of "Chemical Leasing" and "Chemical Leasing goes Global." He has pioneering contributions to the fields of scientific and technical risk assessment of substances and products, best practice diffusion for the production and application of chemical products as well as "Green Chemistry" and "Circular Economy".
A biocide is defined in the European legislation as a chemical substance or microorganism intended to destroy, deter, render harmless, or exert a controlling effect on any harmful organism. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses a slightly different definition for biocides as "a diverse group of poisonous substances including preservatives, insecticides, disinfectants, and pesticides used for the control of organisms that are harmful to human or animal health or that cause damage to natural or manufactured products". When compared, the two definitions roughly imply the same, although the US EPA definition includes plant protection products and some veterinary medicines.
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) is a European Union regulation dating from 18 December 2006. REACH addresses the production and use of chemical substances, and their potential impacts on both human health and the environment. Its 849 pages took seven years to pass, and it has been described as the most complex legislation in the Union's history and the most important in 20 years. It is the strictest law to date regulating chemical substances and will affect industries throughout the world. REACH entered into force on 1 June 2007, with a phased implementation over the next decade. The regulation also established the European Chemicals Agency, which manages the technical, scientific and administrative aspects of REACH.
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are organobromine compounds that have an inhibitory effect on combustion chemistry and tend to reduce the flammability of products containing them. The brominated variety of commercialized chemical flame retardants comprise approximately 19.7% of the market. They are effective in plastics and textile applications like electronics, clothes, and furniture.
The European Chemicals Agency is an agency of the European Union working for the safe use of chemicals. It manages the technical and administrative aspects of the implementation of the European Union regulation called Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). ECHA is the driving force among regulatory authorities in implementing the EU's chemicals legislation. ECHA has to ascertain that companies comply with the legislation, advances the safe use of chemicals, provides information on chemicals and addresses chemicals of concern. It is located in Helsinki, Finland. ECHA is an independent and mature regulatory agency established by REACH. It is not a subsidiary entity of the European Commission.
The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the European Research Area (ERA). Starting in 2014, the funding programmes were named Horizon.
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is an independent body of the European Union with juridical personality, established in 2008 intended to strengthen Europe's ability to innovate. The EIT’s three “core pillars” of activities are: entrepreneurial education programmes and courses across Europe that transform students into entrepreneurs; business creation and acceleration services that scale ideas and budding businesses; and innovation-driven research projects that turn ideas into products by connecting partners, investors, and expertise.
The European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) was the focal point for the data and assessment procedure on dangerous chemicals within the European Union (EU). The ECB was located in Ispra, Italy, within the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission. In 2008 the ECB completed its mandate. Some of its activities were taken over by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA); others remained within the Joint Research Centre. The history of the ECB has been published as a JRC technical report.
The European Chemical Society (EuChemS) is a European non-profit organisation which promotes collaboration between non-profit scientific and technical societies in the field of chemistry.
The European Chemical Industry Council or Cefic is the main European trade association for the chemical industry. It was founded in 1972. Its headquarters are located in Brussels. Cefic is a not-for-profit making organization which represents 28,000 large, medium and small chemical companies in Europe, interacting on behalf of their members with international and EU institutions, non-governmental organisations, the international media, and other stakeholders. The chemical industry is indispensable to Europe’s strong and sustainable economy of the future, with over 1.2 million workers, €499 billion turnover and €9.4 billion R&I investments.
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, commonly referred to as OEHHA, is a specialized department within the cabinet-level California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) with responsibility for evaluating health risks from environmental chemical contaminants.
Chemical leasing is a business model that intends to shift the focus from increasing sales volume of chemicals towards a value-added approach. It intends to address unnecessary over-consumption of chemicals by charging consumers based on functions performed by the chemicals rather than by volume. This treatment of chemical supply as selling a service than selling a product leads to efficient use of chemicals, and to improved health and safety, environmental, and economic benefits.
Pamposh Bhat is a New Delhi–based environmentalist and award-winning writer. Bhat has been awarded the prestigious Rajbhasha Award for Poetry in 1995 for her work "Kshitij Ki Khoj Mein" .
In analytical chemistry, biomonitoring is the measurement of the body burden of toxic chemical compounds, elements, or their metabolites, in biological substances. Often, these measurements are done in blood and urine. Biomonitoring is performed in both environmental health, and in occupational safety and health as a means of exposure assessment and workplace health surveillance.
Franziska Katharina Brantner is a German politician of the Green Party who has been serving as a member of the German Parliament since 2013.
A circular economy is a model of resource production and consumption in any economy that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. The concept aims to tackle global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution by emphasizing the design-based implementation of the three base principles of the model. The main three principles required for the transformation to a circular economy are: designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems. CE is defined in contradistinction to the traditional linear economy.
The European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC) is a scientific, non-profit, non-commercial and non-governmental association. Established in 1978, ECETOC's main objective is to identify, evaluate, and through such knowledge, help industry to minimise any potentially adverse effects on human health and the environment that may arise from the manufacture and use of chemicals, biomaterials and pharmaceuticals. Counting as its members the leading companies in the manufacture and use of chemicals, ECETOC facilitates the networking of suitably qualified scientists from its member companies and academia and co-operates in a scientific context with international agencies, governmental authorities and professional societies.
Galaxolide is a synthetic musk with a clean sweet musky floral woody odor used in fragrances. It is one of the musk components that perfume and cologne manufacturers use to add a musk odor to their products. Galaxolide was first synthesized in 1965, and used in the late 1960s in some fabric softeners and detergents. High concentrations were also incorporated in fine fragrances.
Ioannis Katsoyiannis is a Greek environmental chemist, currently associate professor at the department of chemistry at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has earned a reputation among aquatic chemists because of his studies on the development of novel technologies for arsenic removal from groundwaters, especially the investigation and development of biological arsenic removal.
The European Academies' Science Advisory Council (EASAC) is a regional association of National Academies of science. Its members are 25 National Science Academies of the Member States of the European Union (EU), and the National Science Academies of Norway, Switzerland and the UK. Malta and Luxembourg do not have National Academies of Science. A pan-European Academy (Academia Europaea) and a network of all Academies from across the continent of Europe (ALLEA) also have membership. EASAC was founded in June 2001 and was headquartered at the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in Halle (Saale) until 31 December 2022.
Nina Ingela Maria Cromnier is a Swedish chemical engineer and economist. She is director general of the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority. She was director general of the Chemicals Inspectorate.
