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Op-eds

The Polish government is in a key position to ensure an ambitious EU Air Quality Directive

The EU has a unique public health opportunity with the current revision of the Ambient Air Quality Directive, and the newly elected Polish government can help ensure this. Watering the law’s ambition down with delays and exemptions would be a major, unacceptable setback for people in Poland - one of the countries with the highest economic burden to health from air pollution in the EU.
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Opinion: How industry can launder a health-risking substance: Titanium dioxide should remain classified as carcinogenic within the EU

Titanium dioxide (TiO2), often used for its whitening capacity and found in daily products such as sunscreens and cosmetics, is suspected of causing cancer. But the hazard classification of the substance as a suspected carcinogen has been a long and winding road, with the scientific and political battle culminating in a legal row at the European Union’s highest court—to the detriment of citizens and workers - Natacha Cingotti writes for Social Europe.
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Europe’s raw materials rush does not justify keeping workers in the dark about lithium’s dangers

The increasing reliance on lithium compounds in critical sectors should be reason enough for European authorities to support a thorough investigation of their properties. They also demand a speedy agreement on how to communicate about them to workers and end-users. But instead, a scientifically-backed proposal to classify three lithium salts for their toxicity to reproduction under Europe’s harmonised hazard identification system is at a dead end.
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There is no “safe level” of air pollution

Health groups call on the leaders of the Western Balkan countries to harmonize national air quality standards with the World Health Organization Global air quality guidelines. Health experts should be actively involved in these decision-making processes to ensure the timely integration of public health measures into environmental policies. Compliance with WHO recommendations brings multiple benefits – reduced incidence of chronic diseases and premature deaths, reduced overall health costs and, most importantly, better health and higher productivity of people.
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A tale of disruption: looking back at one decade of Europe’s (unkept) promises to address endocrine disrupting pesticides

By using the example of the ongoing assessments of five substances that have long been suspected to disrupt our thyroid function, HEAL's Natacha Cingotti and Angeliki Lyssimachou illustrate the extremely slow pace of and the related weakness in the implementation of Europe’s promises to protect people, animals and wildlife from effects associated to exposure to endocrine disruptors.
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Announcement of Belchatow coal plant closure is turning point for health

Therefore, the Belchatow closure announcement is a milestone for better health protection for the people in Poland and beyond, and shows that there is a growing recognition that coal cannot have a place in a healthy energy future for Poland, or elsewhere. At the same time, there’s no reason for leaning back, as  we have not reached our goal of a coal phase out in the EU by 2030 yet - a date that is scientifically proven to be needed to slow down the climate crisis.
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Worrying rows over future EU chemicals policy

Recent revelations on major disagreements within the European Commission about the development of the European Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability suggest that representatives of the Department General for Internal Market (DG GROW) seek to fundamentally tone down the proposals, under the pretence of economic interests and overruling preventive actions on chemicals and public health, writes Natacha Cingotti in EUObserver.
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Time to action European promises on endocrine disruptors

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has committed to address endocrine disruptors as part of “a cross-cutting strategy to protect citizens’ health from environmental degradation and pollution” to reach “a zero-pollution ambition”. If Europe is serious about delivering on its promises and regulating based on science, then the current evaluation of the EDC framework is a real opportunity for health, environment and our economy, writes Natacha Cingotti in the ECHA Guest Corner.
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Climate action for our health and planetary health

Our message on climate action as the biggest opportunity to benefit health today, tomorrow and for future generations is powerful, and should be heard everywhere, writes HEAL's Founder and Executive Director Genon K. Jensen.
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