The UK should ignore economic pressure to water down a European ban on chemicals linked to disease states Andreas Kortenkamp.

A recent review of scientific literature commissioned by the European Environment Agency highlights the fact that Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) which disrupt the hormone system –  may be a contributing factor behind the significant increases in cancers, diabetes and obesity, falling fertility, and an increased number of neurological development problems in both humans and animals.

Professor Kortenkamp asks, why:

“Considering the high stakes for human and wildlife health, and the vast costs of dealing with the diseases likely to be attributed to these chemicals, the UK authorities have to be more cautious. Even without the help of the HSE, industry is already lobbying hard for its own interests. Who in government lobbies equally hard for health protection and the environment”?

Its fair to say we know enough to act now on EDC’s by banning some outright and asking questions about “what level of proof should be required before the use of EDCs can be restricted? The EEA advocates a precautionary approach until the effects of these chemicals are better understood. By contrast, the chemical industry wants a high level of proof before imposing any restrictions.”

We’ve got to ask ourselves, is it worth risking our health, the health of our workplaces and our communities in order to continue to use these chemicals, many found in products that are superfluous to everyday life?

Read the original article here: Household Chemicals’ ‘cocktail effect’ raises cancer concerns for watchdog

And the opinion piece here: Harmful household chemicals must be banned – health before commerce

 

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Published by wildcardenvironmentalist

Helen Lynn has worked on issues linking women, gender, health and the environment since 1995, initially at the Women’s Environmental Network where she was health co-ordinator for 12 years, then as a freelance consultant. She has worked internationally and at EU level with Women in Europe for a Common Future and is on their International Advisory Board. Her campaign work began with Putting Breast Cancer on the Map, which encouraged women to map local sources of pollution alongside incidence of breast cancer and she was one of the founders of the No More Breast Cancer Campaign. She is on the Soil Associations Health Products Standards Committee which develops and keeps under review standards for organic health and beauty care products. While at WEN she and the health team initiated the Getting Lippy campaign on harmful ingredients in cosmetics, the campaign covered all aspects of the issue including information on toxic ingredients, making your own cosmetics, misleading labelling and advertising of the products and which alternatives are available. Other campaigns Helen worked on included the Ban Lindane (a toxic pesticide used on crops) Campaign, Healthy Flooring, Enviromenstrual, and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. She currently facilitates the Alliance for Cancer Prevention which works with occupational and environmental health specialists and activists to challenge the existing emphasis on control and treatment of cancer as the only way forward and to get equal recognition for primary prevention, particularly in relation to environmental and occupational risk factors. In 2014 along with fellow breast cancer activists she began the From Pink to Prevention campaign which aims to move the agenda towards Stopping Breast Cancer before it Starts.