Newsletter November -December 2007

About us & our members

Call for EU Green Paper on Indoor Air Quality to combat COPD

On the 14th November, to mark World COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) Day 2007, the European Respiratory Society (ERS), the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients’ Associations (EFA) and the European Lung Foundation (ELF), three HEAL members, organised a lunch debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
COPD is a mixture of chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and often associated with other serious long-term conditions, such as heart disease and (...)

ECSA report cards: Countries graded on the level of safety provided to children and adolescents

A major step towards national action plans to enhance child and adolescent safety in Europe has been completed. Joanne Vincenten and Morag Mackay, European Child Safety Alliance, EuroSafe, describe here the report cards that make clear to European governments what action they should take if they are serious about preventing avoidable deaths among their children and young people.
On November 20, 2007 results rating performance on child and adolescent safety for 18 countries in Europe were (...)

EPHA to appoint a new Secretary General

The European Public Health Alliance, the largest network of NGOs dealing with health issues and a HEAL founding member, will welcome a new secretary general from 1st February 2008, Monika Danuta Kosińska.
Monika has consistent experience on managing teams, lobbying at local, national and international levels on health issues. She is bilingual in Polish/English and speaks several other languages. She holds academic qualifications in Law, Economics and International Relations.
EPHA (...)

German Network CHE articles on Children’s environmental health

Two articles on children’s environmental health written by
Stephan Böse-O’Reilly from the Network Children’s Health and Environment Germany are to be published in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health.
Continuous medical education (CME): Do we need CME for paediatric environmental medicine in Europe?
The first article, entitled “Continuous medical education (CME): Do we need CME for paediatric environmental medicine in Europe?” highlights (...)

HEAL is recruiting a part-time Finance and Administrative Officer

The Health & Environment Alliance (HEAL) is a non-governmental organisation aiming to improve people’s health through better environmental policy-making at European level and by raising awareness of how environmental protection improves health. It achieves this by creating opportunities for better representation of citizens’ and health experts’ perspectives in the environment and health-related policy-making.
HEAL is now recruiting a Finance and Administrative Officer to run the day-to-day (...)

HEAL Secretariat News November-December 2007

Staff changes
In November 2007, Audrey Parizel joined the Health and Environment Alliance for a six-month internship. A French national, Audrey will help the secretariat with the following tasks: assist in the development of information material and website for HEAL Chemicals Health Monitor campaign; write articles for HEAL website and monthly newsletter; build up contacts with the French health and environment community (NGOs, health and patients’ groups, national authorities etc) in (...)

Inter Environnement Wallonie at UN conference on climate change in Bali

Inter Environnement Wallonie, a HEAL member organisation, took part in the UN conference on climate change in Bali from 3 December to 14 December 2007. IEW delegates monitored the conference developments and posted daily updates on a dedicated blog by Jean-Yves Saliez, IEW Secretary General.
They noted that the US, Canada and Japan have been trying to put negotiations in a dead-end. However, other countries such as Belgium have been pushing for the drafting of an official document before (...)

ISDE President explains health risk posed by chemicals

In three online videos, Professor Vyvyan Howard, head of the Developmental Toxico-Pathology Research Group and a senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool, England, and president of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE), explains how original risk assessment of chemicals grossly underestimated chemical toxicity, and how consumer health protection is woefully inadequate. ISDE is a member of the HEAL network.
According to Professor Howard endocrine disrupters (...)

RIP coalition succeeds in advocating for self-extinguishing cigarettes

On 29 November 2007, EU member states overwhelmingly endorsed the EC plans to draw up proposals for a standard to combat the leading cause of home fire fatalities each year. The standard will require tobacco companies to only sell self-extinguishing (RIP) cigarettes. The decision by Member states in the General Safety Product Safety Committee will start the process of bringing the European union into line with many other countries such as Canada and 22 US states. The European Commission (...)

WECF launches pocket size guide to shopping for toxic-free products

In November 2007, Women in Europe for a Common Future, a HEAL member, launched a new publication with the aim to inform women about their rights under the new EU chemicals policy, REACH.
“We are very excited to make this information available to women anywhere in the EU. We
have worked hard to make sure REACH provides us with the tools to find out about hazardous
chemicals in every day consumer products!” says Daniela Rosche, WECF chemicals expert and
author of the guide.
Under (...)

WECF to hold conference on "EU Sanitation Policies and Practices in the 2008 International Year of Sanitation"

Building on the momentum of the 2008 “International Year of Sanitation”, Women in Europe for a Common Future - a network of 80 environment organisations in 30 European countries, and a HEAL member - together with European Water Partnership, KIWA Water Research, Global Water Partnership and Coalition Clean Baltic is organising a High-Level Policy Dialogue on “EU Sanitation Policies and Practices in the 2008 International Year of Sanitation” in Brussels on 29 January (...)

Environment and Health Policy

ECJ condemns some EU Member States for green breaches

In November 2007, the the European Court of Justice (ECJ) condemned Luxembourg for not transposing properly the 1996 Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC). This ruling is particularly important as member states tend to adapt EU legislation at their convenience and reinterpret it, preventing legislation to produce the results expected in terms of environmental preservation.
In a different ruling Malta was also condemned concerning rules on polychlorinated biphenyls (...)

Publication of environment and health research project results funded by FP5

The European Commission has published a catalogue of the final results of the environment and health research projects funded by the fifth Framework Programme of Research (FP5). The projects cover numerous issues, including:
Air pollution-related health impacts
Chemicals and health impacts
Electromagnetic fields and health impacts
Noise-related health impacts
UV light and ionising radiation-related health impacts
Multiple stressors and factors and health impacts
Waterborne (...)

Slovenian Presidency priorities on environment and health

Slovenia took over the EU Presidency helm from 1 January 2008 for six months. The incoming presidency will focus on the implementation of the new Lisbon cycle for growth and jobs, energy, climate change and relations with the Western Balkans.
Health priority: Cancer
Slovenia’s main health priority will be the prevention and reduction of cancer, according to the head of the Health Protection Directorate Marija Seljak, who presented Slovenia’s plans in the area of health for its upcoming EU (...)

Status of EU research on environment and health

According to research led by Polish researcher Tarkowski as part of the EU-funded Strengthening Public Health Research in Europe (SPHERE) project, environmental health research in Europe is 20% lower than in the United States. The work aimed to provide an overview of the extent of published environmental health research in Europe and to assess recent output in this research field and future research direction (Read the abstract).
The research set time limits from July 1995 to June 1995 and (...)

Resources & Media

Book review: Cancer - 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic

Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic is a book by Guy Dauncey, Liz Armstrong and Anne Wordsworth. It offers solid evidence that many cancers are preventable, since their causes lie with the contamination of our bodies by pollution from the air we breathe, the products we use, the water we drink, and the food we eat.
The book offers an interesting and innovative viewpoint in that it takes a positive, solutions-based approach to this unwanted disease. Its pages are filled with (...)

New Publication: Multilateral Environmental Agreement Negotiator’s Handbook

Environment Canada, the United Nations Environment Programme and Joensuu
University, have jointly published the second edition of the Multilateral Environmental Agreement Negotiator’s Handbook, 2007. Prepared as a practical introduction to negotiating or working on Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), the handbook contains key technical information and common sense advice in an accessible format.
Aimed at a wide audience, the Negotiator’s handbook makes no assumptions about the (...)

Mercury and health

First UNEP Open Ended Working Group Meeting on mercury held in November 2007

The first meeting to review and assess measures to address the issue of global mercury was held by the ad-hoc Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) from November 12 to 16, 2007 at the UN ESCAP facilities in Bangkok, Thailand. The OEWG was setup by the Governing Council (GC) of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), after it was recognised that “current efforts to reduce risks from mercury are not sufficient to address the global challenges posed by mercury” and that (...)

HEAL article "Mercury, fish and childbearing: what every woman should know to protect children and the planet"

The survey findings of the HEAL campaign report entitled “Halting the child brain drain: Why we need to tackle global mercury contamination”, demonstrating women’s current levels of mercury as a concrete example of low-level exposure to an environmental toxic are to be published in Women & Environments International Magazine a Canadian journal that examines women’s multiple relations to their environments.
Exposure to mercury in the diet and perhaps at work may significantly (...)

Chemicals

CHM briefing: “What will new EU Chemicals Legislation Deliver for Public Health?”

On the occasion of the hearing in the European Parliament of the elected Executive Director of the new European Chemicals Agency that took place on 21 November, the International Society of Doctors for the Environment (Europe) co-published with the Health and Environment Alliance and CHEM Trust, a briefing entitled “What will new EU Chemicals Legislation Deliver for Public Health?”.
This four page article introduces the new EU law called ‘REACH’, and briefly discusses the health (...)

EC publishes latest review of the Community Strategy for Endocrine Disrupters

In November 2007, the European Commission published the third progress report on the implementation of the "Community Strategy for Endocrine Disrupters - a range of substances suspected of interfering with the hormone systems of humans and wildlife”. The review describes the developments that have been made in terms of activities on prioritising substances for further investigation, stimulating research, agreeing test methods or adapting legislation. Dowload the Commission Staff (...)

Italian sit-in on multiple chemical sensitivity

The Italian association A.M.I.C.A. organised a sit-in for the recognition of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) in Rome on 12 december 2007.
The event aimed to promote a law that considers all the different aspects of the life of MCS patients, including the creation of:
3 national health centres for MCS with competent personnel and environmental controlled units
Public "safe" houses for MCS people with low income
Right to a safe working environment
Financial support for the difference (...)

LDDI Scientific Consensus Statement about Neurotoxicants effects on Children

In November 2007, the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI) of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment created a scientific consensus statement (download the document on environmental agents associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. Scientists, researchers and health professionals can sign up to the consensus document online at the LDDI website.
The US Collaborative on Health and Environment (CHE), a HEAL partner, created a working group called LDDI, (...)

OECD adopts testing guidelines for endocrine disrupters

On the 16 October 2007, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) adopted “Testing guideline 440”, its first testing guideline in a planned series on the assessment of endocrine disrupting properties of chemicals. The result of almost a decade of work, the guideline describes how to conduct in-vivo uterotrophic bioassays.
It is estimated that thanks to these guidelines, the avoidance of duplicate testing will achieve annual savings of $50-60m. The OECD (...)

Prenatal arsenic exposure suspected of long-lasting health effects

Arsenic is a dangerous substance and a known carcinogen. It increases mortality and can be found in workplaces, near hazardous waste sites or in areas with high natural levels. However until recently the impact of arsenic on vulnerable groups, in this case foetus, was not documented.
A study on mice showed that prenatal arsenic exposure through consumption of contaminated water could cause long-lasting effects on new born animal even if it is was not exposed to arsenic later in life. (...)

Pesticides

Health benefits of organic milk shown by study to be published in British Journal of Nutrition

Research to be published in the peer-reviewed British Journal of Nutrition shows that infants fed organic dairy products, and whose mothers consumed organic dairy during pregnancy, had a 36% lower incidence of eczema, compared to those who at non-organic dairy products. The research represents the first direct example of the positive health benefits associated with eating organic food.
It is thought that organic diary is good for human health thanks to its increased levels of conjugated (...)

NIOSH fact sheet published on "Reducing Pesticide Exposure at Schools"

The US Centre for Disease control (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has published a fact sheet on “Reducing Pesticide Exposure at Schools”. According to the fact sheet children may be particularly susceptible to pesticide toxicity because of their immature stage of development.
Although pesticides play an important role in food supply protection and disease control, they can also be harmful to human health. Pesticides are often applied at (...)

Climate Change

Climate change effects on health highlighted at UN Bali Conference

The United Nations Conference on Climate Change, held in Bali from 3 to 14 December 2007, gathered representatives of over 180 countries together with observers from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to discuss post-Kyoto commitments after the Protocol expires in 2012.
Flavour of the opening of the High-Level segment (12.12.07)
WHO: Health sector needs to wake up to effects of climate change
The World Health Organisation hosted a three-day workshop during the Bali (...)

Newly published reports highlight the health risks of climate change

There is strong scientific consensus that the warming of global surface temperatures in the past century is largely due to human activity. In October 2007, two new reports were released highlighting the harmful effects of climate change on human health. The reports both highlight the heath implications of climate change for current and future generations, and call for both mitigation - the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and adaptation strategies - preparations for the effects of (...)

Air Quality

Car-related pollution responsible for 440 premature deaths per year in Toronto.

On 5 November 2007, Dr McKeown, Toronto’s Medical Officer for Health, released a report entitled “Air Pollution Burden of Illness from Traffic in Toronto”.
A previous report of 2004 had already showed that air pollution was causing 1700 premature deaths per year. However, there was no empirical scientific evidence concerning the impact of car pollution, particularly car tailpipes. This new report shows that 440 of these 1700 premature deaths are related to tailpipes (...)

EU Air Quality Directive: MEPs set maximum concentration of microparticles

On 11 December 2007, the European Parliament adopted a second-reading legislative report which provides for maximum concentration levels for the atmospheric microparticles or dust most hazardous to human health, the PM2.5, which were not regulated until now. The report is the basis of an agreement with the Council on the directive on air quality.
Under the second-reading deal reached in late November with the Portuguese presidency, the amount of PM2.5 and other gases in ambient air which (...)

European Environment Agency publishes report on “Air Pollution in Europe”

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published a report entitled “Air Pollution in Europe 1990-2004”, analysing changes in air pollution emissions and their possible environment and health impacts in Europe. In the report, which covers the 1990-2004 period, concentrations of ozone, particulate matter (PM), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide NO2, benzene, and other compounds such as heavy metals and carbon monoxide, were measured in 32 EEA member countries.
According to (...)

SLF article: Czech Air is one of the most polluted in Europe

HEAL member Mirek Suta from the Society for Sustainable Living, Czech Republic, has written an article in Czech entitled Czech Air is the one of the most polluted in Europe summarising the key findings of the European Environment Agency (EEA) Report, "Air pollution in Europe 1990-2004".
The EEA report, highlighted in the HEAL November newsletter covers the 1990-2004 period and reports on concentrations of ozone, particulate matter (PM), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide NO2, benzene, (...)

Public Participation

EC Public Consultation on a Code of Conduct for Interest Representatives

On 10 December 2007, the European Commission launched a public consultation on a draft Code of conduct of Interest Representatives, which will accompany the public register for interest representatives to be published in Spring 2008.
On the basis of the communication on the Follow-up to the Green Paper on the ’European Transparency Initiative’, the Commission has committed itself to draft a Code of Conduct. The Code contains a limited number of clear and concrete rules, indicating how (...)

Environmental diseases

AFSSET Conference on "Asthma and Society"

AFSSET (Agence Francaise de sécurité sanitaire de l’environnement et du travail) will host a conference entitled "Asthma and Society" on 30-31 January 2008, in the context of the national plan on environment and health.
The conference aims to:
Analyse the health challenges, risk factors and preventative measures related to asthma;
Exchange good practices in prevention and information
Promote knowledge sharing and mobilisation of different stakeholders.
Trois objectifs principaux sont (...)

Doctors take action against increasing environmental cancer rates in Southern France

Due to a dramatic increase of pollution-related cancers in Southern France, Dr Pierre Souvet, a GP doctor practising in the region, decided to take action and to create an organisation to raise public awareness, lobby local and national authorities and co-operate with industry. In an interview for Var Matin newspaper published on 6 December 2007, he explained how he decided to take action and to create ASEP (Association Santé Environnement Provence).
ASEP gathers 200 GPs working in (...)

Report: “Environmental and Occupational Causes of Cancer: New Evidence, 2005-2007”

In autumn 2007 a new report entitled “Environmental and Occupational Causes of Cancer: New Evidence, 2005-2007” was published, presenting a review of the scientific evidence linking carcinogens in the workplaces, schools and homes with certain cancers. The report is an update of the 2005 study, “Environmental and Occupational Causes of Cancer: A Review of the Recent Scientific Literature”.
According to the report, which includes peer-reviewed scientific studies (...)

More issues

A Healthy CAP Health Check?

On 20 November 2007, the European Commission unveiled its plan for streamlining and further modernising the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy. The so-called ’Health Check’ of the CAP will build on the approach which began with the 2003 reforms, improve the way the policy operates based on the experience gathered since 2003 and make it fit for the new challenges and opportunities in an EU of 27 Member States in 2007.
The Health Check will ask three main questions:
how to make (...)

Canadian research shows environment plays key role in children’s readiness for school

A study entitled “The Genetic-Environmental Etiology of Cognitive School Readiness and Later Academic Achievement in Early Childhood undertaken by researchers at Laval University, the University of Montreal, Canada, have found that both genetic and environmental factors affect a child’s readiness for school, but that environmental factors are more influential.
The research examined 420 pairs of 5-year-old twins. Children were assessed on four measures used to identify readiness for (...)

European VOICE awards on Child Safety

On 5 December 2007, the European Voice awards on Child Safety were handed out. Voice represents a Europe-wide campaign to protect vulnerable road users, organised by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) in coalition with vulnerable road user organisations across Europe. The project aims to raise the profile of the needs of vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians among EU policy makers.
Based on the child safety report of the European Child Safety Alliance (ECSA), (...)

The Story of Stuff: a short video on production and consumption patterns

The Story of Stuff is a newly published short, punchy video reflecting on consumption behaviours and on the life-cycle of products through a linear system which goes from extraction to disposal.
Annie Leonard presents each stage of this linear system, providing numerous examples. She shows how not only natural resources but also people from all over the world, especially from developing countries, are affected by modern economy. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge (...)

Vienna Medical Association warns of the health impacts of cell phones

The Vienna Medical Association has been warning of the potential health effects of mobile phones since 2005. To reduce health risks, the Association demands no zero tariffs and no mobile phone advertising targeting children and adolescents.
More and more evidence links the use of mobile phones to adverse health effects, such as an increased risk of brain tumor. The risk is far more serious for children as their skullcap is thinner and still contains blood-forming bone marrow. Warnings have (...)