The European Parliament adopted today by a large majority the provisional trilogue agreement on the revision of the Ambient Air Quality Directives (AAQD), to update the EU’s clean air standards dating from 2008.
Three major endocrine expert groups have alerted the European Commission they are seriously concerned with its proposed criteria on EDCs and alert that it will not protect human health.
In a recent letter to the European Commission, the Endocrine Society, the European Society for Endocrinology, and the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology claim the proposed criteria to identify endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) “will fail to identify EDCs that are currently causing human harm and will not secure a high level of health and environmental protection”.
EDCs, also known as hormone disrupting chemicals, are artificial chemicals that interfere with the natural hormones in our bodies. They are very likely contributing to cancers, fertility problems, obesity, and many more serious health disorders.
The letter from the endocrine expert groups come at a critical time as the 28 member states of the European Union are expected to vote on the Commission’s proposal in early July. The EDC-Free Europe Coalition, of which HEAL acts as the secretariat, has also recently written to Nicolas Hulot, the French minister responsible for the environment to urge him to maintain a firm position against weak EDC criteria.
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