The government promised that UK safety standards would be maintained after we left the EU. Five years on, the evidence shows that the promise has not been kept.
Hidden Hazards / The Investigation
This is an ongoing investigation by Launchpad Magazine into the growing gap between UK and EU chemical safety standards.
When the UK left the European Union, it created its own system for regulating harmful chemicals: UK REACH. The government was clear about what this would mean. Ministers repeatedly promised that UK standards would be at least as high as those we helped build during our time in the EU. People were told that taking back control of our own regulations meant doing things better, not doing them less. Five years later, the evidence tells a very different story.
The EU has adopted at least 10 new restrictions on harmful chemicals since January 2021. The UK has adopted zero. But the UK has not simply stood still. It has actively moved backwards, deprioritising 12 substances that the EU has already acted on. These include lead in PVC products and cancer-linked chemicals found in children's playground surfaces.
This is not about re-fighting the referendum. That debate is over. The UK has left the EU. The question this investigation asks is straightforward - why has the government not kept its promise? And what does that mean for the families who trusted that promise?
What You Will Find Here
Part One
The Chemicals
The Safety Gap
The full investigation into how UK chemical protection has fallen behind the standard the government promised to maintain.
UK vs EU
The Numbers An interactive chart showing the year-by-year divergence from 2021 to 2025. Updated as new data becomes available.
The Full Report
Hidden Hazards version 1.4, the complete published report.
Sign the Petition
A parliamentary petition calling on the government to keep its promise and close the gap.
What's in Your Home
Which everyday products contain the chemicals the UK has deprioritised? The personal side of the story.
The Broken Promise / What the government said would happen and what actually happened, in plain language.
Take Action / Everything you can do, from signing the petition to writing to your MP.
Sources and Evidence / Every citation, every report, every data point. Full transparency.
Updates / A running timeline of developments as the story progresses.
Part Two: The Food
Engineered to Addict / How ultra-processed foods are designed to trigger addiction-like responses, and who pays the price.
The Science of Food Addiction / How sugar, fat, salt, and additives interact with the brain's reward system, in plain language.
What Are They Feeding Our Children? / From school meals to corner shops to the screens in their hands.
The Poverty Trap / How food insecurity and deprivation drive UPF dependency in the communities that can least afford it.
Why Launchpad Magazine?
Launchpad Magazine exists to tell the stories that matter to communities. Not from boardrooms or press offices, but from the people affected. This investigation started because we asked a simple question: are families in the UK still as well protected as the government promised they would be? The answer troubled us. So we kept digging.
We are not scientists. We are not politicians. We are a community magazine that believes people have a right to know what is being done, and what is not being done, to keep them safe. Regardless of how anyone voted, this affects all of us. Everything in this investigation is sourced, cited, and verifiable.
Last updated: 1 March 2026