Bedroom dust used to urge EU to act more urgently on REACH
An analysis of dust samples is being used to urge faster action on EDCs in REACH. The dust has been vacuumed up from underneath beds around the world in a project carried out by ChemSec and other NGOs.
The aim is to prompt the European Commission and every EU member state to speed up the process and nominate EDCs to the REACH Candidate List. They also want companies to take the initiative to phase out EDCs in their products before these chemicals are decided upon in REACH.
HEAL Toxics Policy Advisor, Lisette van Vliet, put her vacuum cleaner to work under a bed in Belgium where a couple and their new baby live.
The sample collected in Belgium had high levels of nonylphenol compared to the other samples collected. Nonylphenol is a substance which is considered to be an endocrine disruptor because of its ability to mimic estrogen and in turn disrupt the natural balance of hormones in affected organisms. Nonylphenol has already been restricted in the EU but it is clearly still contaminating indoor environments. "This illustrates that REACH is not doing enough to ensure that chemicals which have already been restricted in the EU are kept out of our homes," Ms van Vliet added.
