68 organisations have sent a letter to the EU Environment Ministers urging them to make a strong statement calling on the European Commission to comply immediately with the ruling of the European Court of Justice (Case T-521/14 Sweden vs. Commission) on scientific criteria to identify Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) at the upcoming meeting of the European Council.

EDCs can contribute to diseases and disorders such as hormonal cancers (prostate, testicular, breast), reproductive health problems, impaired child development, and obesity and diabetes. The EDC Free Europe Coalition is not alone in its call, scientists, health professionals, trade unions and medical doctors have all issued warnings about the potentail and ongoing adverse health impacts if EDCs continue to be unregulated. We are already paying the price for letting these chemicals contaminate our air, food and water for decades.

The Court ruling found that no impact assessment was legally required to produce the scientific criteria, and that any work on the impact assessment did not justify missing the legally binding deadline (Paragraph 74). Hence, any work on or from the impact assessment cannot be used to help decide or influence the final criteria, as the impact assessment is entirely irrelevant to the final completion and adoption of scientific criteria for identification of EDCs.

The group looks forward to the EU taking a position and affirmative action on EDCs with no more delays. Our health depends on it. Read our letter here

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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.