In an opinion article published on the EU political news and information website The Parliament Magazine on January 9, 2015 Christel Schaldemose, a Danish Member of the European Parliament (MEP), reviews the “MEPs Against Cancer (MAC) briefing: EU consultation on endocrine disruptors” she hosted on January 7, 2015 in Brussels, Belgium. Schaldemose highlights how the director of European Cancer Leagues (ECL) Wendy Tse Yared stressed that rapidly increasing rates of breast and prostate cancer cannot be explained by improved diagnostics. Yared further stated that the observed trend coincides with increasing chemical exposures and sufficient evidence exists that EDCs increase cancer risk. Effective regulation might therefore contribute to reductions in hormone-dependent cancers. Dutch toxicologist Majorie van Duursen of Utrecht University, the Netherlands further explained that scientific studies on breast cancer showed that exposure to EDCs can disturb mammary gland development and thus can potentially lead to increased cancer risk. New studies linking EDCs and various health conditions including cancer are appearing on a daily basis, van Duursen stressed. Director of the non-governmental organization Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) Genon Jensen told the audience that HEAL’s members, which include cancer groups, are also convinced that exposure to EDCs might be an explanation why hormone-dependent cancers have been rising. HEAL, as a part of a coalition of NGOs called EDC-Free Europe, currently helps the general public to respond to the EU consultation on EDCs (previously reported on by the FPF), which is open until January 16, 2015. “My hope is that this MEPs against cancer meeting will help convince the commission that action now needs to happen. Not tomorrow, but today”, Schaldemose concludes.

Read more

Christel Schaldemose (January 9, 2015). “Europe-wide cancer group calls for action on hormone disruptors.The Parliament Magazine

ECL (January 7, 2015). “MEPs against cancer briefing on endocrine disrupting chemicals regulation: 7 January 2015.

HEAL (January 7, 2015). “MEPs discuss cancer prevention through better regulation of hormone disrupting chemicals.

Share