In an article published on June 29, 2016 the non-profit organization International Chemical Secretariat (ChemSec) informs that the environmental ministers Ségolène Royal of France, Esben Lunde Larsen of Denmark, and Karolina Skog of Sweden have sent a joint letter to the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, and the President of the European Commission (EC), Jean-Claude Junker. In this letter they ask for amendments of the draft criteria for identification of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) presented by the EC on June 15, 2016 (FPF reported).

The ministers stress that the EDC criteria proposed by the EC do not “ensure a satisfactory level of protection of human health and the environment.” The ministers criticize that only substances known to cause an adverse effect relevant for human health or non-target organisms through an endocrine mode of action can be identified as EDCs. This is deemed unacceptable because “the scientific validation process is very long and comes after irreparable damage to human health and the environment has appeared.” The ministers recommend applying the precautionary principle “so that prohibitions could be decided as soon as environmental impacts are proven or even when endocrine disruption suspicions appear.” Further, the ministers highlight the high health costs arising from inaction on EDCs (FPF reported) and note that “if the proposed criteria were applied, bisphenol A [(BPA, CAS 80-05-7)] would not be recognized as an endocrine disruptor.”

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ChemSec (June 29, 2016). “Environmental ministers ask Commission for more protective EDC criteria.

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