On May 15, 2018, EDC-Free Europe, a coalition of public interest groups, published a document calling on the European Commission (EC) to release an updated EU strategy on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). “In 2017, the European Commission committed to bring out a new integrated strategy on EDCs, after previous attempts to update the existing EU Community Strategy on EDCs from 1999 had been derailed by intense industry lobbying,” the non-profit organization Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) reported in an article published on the same day.

The EDC-Free Europe coalition formulated eight specific demands for an EU strategy on EDCs: 1) Make public health and precaution cornerstones of the strategy, 2) raise public awareness of EDCs, 3) increase regulatory control of EDCs across all sectors, 4) assess and regulate EDCs in groups rather than substance-by-substance, 5) accelerate testing, screening, and identification of EDCs, 6) aim for a “clean” circular economy without EDCs in products, 7) promote safe substitution of EDCs and innovative solutions, and 8) monitor health and environmental effects of EDCs.

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EDC-Free Europe (May 2018). “EU has the obligation to protect its people and the environment from all harm caused by endocrine disrupting chemicals – Our eight demands for an EU EDC strategy.(pdf)

HEAL (May 15, 2018). “EDC-Free Europe coalition urges European Commission to protect people and environment from hormone disruptors.

Chemical Watch (May 16, 2018). “NGO coalition urges EU Commission to publish EDC strategy.

Claire Stam (May 25, 2018). “European Commission urged to deliver on new EDCs strategy.

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