HEAL advocates for policies to benefit peoples’ health and the environment
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Press contact: Nea Pakarinen nea@env-health.org
Joint letter calling for a ban of flufenacet
12th November 2024
A coalition of 49 environmental and health organisations is now urging the European Commission and EU member states to immediately ban flufenacet in a joint letter.
HEAL assessment of the hearing of Commissioner-designate Olivér Várhelyi
7th November 2024
Yesterday, MEPs held the confirmation hearing with Commissioner-designate Roswall, whose portfolio focuses on environment, water resilience and a competitive circular economy.
HEAL assessment of the hearing of Commissioner-designate Jessika Roswall
6th November 2024
Yesterday, MEPs held the confirmation hearing with Commissioner-designate Roswall, whose portfolio focuses on environment, water resilience and a competitive circular economy.
Press release: EDC-Free Europe coalition urges EU Leaders to take immediate action on endocrine-disrupting chemicals
6th November 2024
Press release: HEAL, together with the EDC-Free Europe coalition, is calling on future EU leaders to protect health and the environment from health-harming endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The coalition shared its priorities for the upcoming policy mandate at an event at the European Parliament.
A majority of Poles are worried about chemical pollution – HEAL calls for policy action!
4th November 2024
HEAL has opened a new chapter in its work in Poland - launching an initiative to address the growing concerns about harmful chemicals; as a recent Eurobarometer survey shows that 84% of Poles are worried about the effects of harmful chemicals on their health.
CSO statement: The EU Commission must provide guarantees on climate, nature and public health
4th November 2024
Together with 180+ organisations, HEAL cal on the EU Commission to provide guarantees on climate, nature and public health, ensuring the protection of people.
European Parliament hearings of designated Commissioners: Step up on health protection and disease prevention
24th October 2024
HEAL has published suggestions for Members of European Parliament on what questions to ask candidates for Commissioner positions. From 4 – 12 November, the European Parliament will hold hearings with all candidates for the Commission 2024-2029.
Press release: EDC-Free Europe coalition urges EU Leaders to take immediate action on endocrine-disrupting chemicals
6th November 2024
Press release: HEAL, together with the EDC-Free Europe coalition, is calling on future EU leaders to protect health and the environment from health-harming endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The coalition shared its priorities for the upcoming policy mandate at an event at the European Parliament.
Press release: Health groups welcome the confirmation of revised EU air quality law: milestone for public health
14th October 2024
The EU Environment Ministers confirmed the revised Ambient Air Quality Directive. The revised legislation updates limits for key air pollutants in the EU to align more closely with the latest World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, and to reflect the serious health impacts of air pollution.
Press note: European competitiveness will not be harmed by a PFAS restriction – but without it, people’s health will be
9th September 2024
Press note: While the Draghi report is concerned about the economic implications from transitioning away from PFAS in Europe, this approach is fundamentally flawed given the health costs and severe health and environmental consequences associated with these substances.
Press note: Health should remain in the scope of the ENVI committee
2nd July 2024
Press note: HEAL calls on the European Parliament to maintain health within the scope of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.
Press note: Health groups welcome vote on restriction of bisphenols in food packaging
12th June 2024
Press note: EU member states expert committee voted to ban some bisphenols, including bisphenol A (BPA), in food contact materials. This measure is much needed to protect people from these endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), that have also been classified as toxic for reproduction.
Press Release: 73 EU candidates pledge a toxic-free future ahead of EU-elections
4th June 2024
Press release: In a move to prioritise public health and environmental sustainability, nineteen leading environmental and health organisations have united to call on EU candidates to commit to a toxic-free Europe.
Press note: New Study – Chemical exposure can lead to higher risk of metabolic syndrome in children
23rd May 2024
Press note: New Study – Chemical exposure can lead to higher risk of metabolic syndrome in children
Joint letter calling for a ban of flufenacet
12th November 2024
A coalition of 49 environmental and health organisations is now urging the European Commission and EU member states to immediately ban flufenacet in a joint letter.
CSO statement: The EU Commission must provide guarantees on climate, nature and public health
4th November 2024
Together with 180+ organisations, HEAL cal on the EU Commission to provide guarantees on climate, nature and public health, ensuring the protection of people.
Joint open letter from the representatives of civil society and the environment on the Draghi Report considerations regarding chemicals
14th October 2024
A group of civil society organisations has written to EU Environment Ministers and European Commission…
Joint letter to EU environment ministers regarding confirmation of revised Ambient Air Quality Directive (AAQD)
10th October 2024
HEAL, together with Bundesärztekammer and Deutsche Allianz Klimawandel und Gesundheit (KLUG), has sent a letter calling on EU environment ministers to confirm the revision of EU’s clean air standards (Ambient Air Quality Directives).
Letter: EU Healthy Air Coalition calls for confirmation of the revised Ambient Air Quality Directives
7th October 2024
The EU Healthy Air Coalition, representing medical doctors, healthcare professionals, patient organisations and health insurers, call the members of the Environment Council of the EU to confirm the revision of EU’s clean air standards (Ambient Air Quality Directives).
Letter to EU environment ministers – uphold commitment to health protection objectives in Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability
4th October 2024
HEAL has sent a letter to permanent representations of EU member states and EU environment ministers today, calling on their support and leadership to ensure that previous commitments made for a high level of health and environment protection will remain at the heart of the 2024-2029 EU Commission mandate, including delivering on the health protective measures promised in the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) and the revision of REACH with no further delay.
Letter: EU Healthy Air Coalition calls to strengthen EU clean air measures to sustain quality of life
6th September 2024
The EU Healthy Air Coalition, representing medical doctors, healthcare professionals, patient organisations and health insurers, which HEAL is a part of, call on the European Commission President von der Leyen, to prevent health impacts from air pollution. The coalition calls to award clean air a prominent mandate priority at Vice-Presidency level, in order to save costs and protect those most vulnerable.
Opinion: EU’s leaked strategic agenda makes zero mention of health
13th June 2024
HEAL Director Génon K. Jensen writes for EUobserver on the importance to reflect the heavy toll climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution are taking on health in the EU Strategic Agenda 2024-2029 .
Opinion: Playing games with children’s health
28th May 2024
HEAL Programme Lead Health and Chemicals Sandra Jen writes for Social Europe: Toys are among the top products in the European Union reported for health-and-safety risks. They account for 23 per cent of all alerts for dangerous consumer products in the EU’s rapid-alert system. The position recently adopted by the Council of the EU on revision of the legislation on toy safety is thus concerning, notably in failing to support a bans on PFAS and bisphenols.
Opinion: The latest update of EU clean air standards could benefit Poland greatly
1st March 2024
The revised Ambient Air Quality Directive is a great tool for the Polish government to swiftly shift from the costly smoggy past to a clear new era, with happier and healthier people in tow, Weronika Michalak, Director of HEAL Poland writes for Euronews.
The Polish government is in a key position to ensure an ambitious EU Air Quality Directive
20th February 2024
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.
Opinion: How industry can launder a health-risking substance: Titanium dioxide should remain classified as carcinogenic within the EU
8th November 2023
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.
Tribune collectif: La réglementation européenne sur les substances chimiques doit être révisée d’urgence
18th April 2023
Alors qu’une consultation publique visant à restreindre l’usage des « polluants éternels » a été lancée le 22 mars, des mutuelles et des organisations spécialisées en santé environnementale rappellent, dans une tribune au « Le Monde », l’urgence d’une actualisation ambitieuse du règlement européen sur les substances chimiques.
Europe’s raw materials rush does not justify keeping workers in the dark about lithium’s dangers
29th March 2023
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.
HEAL webinar series on the health impacts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
17th October 2024
To raise awareness of the impacts of PFAS on human health, HEAL is organising a series of three webinars in October 2024, each focusing on a different health impact of PFAS. The first webinar on 10 October focuses on impacts on the immune system. The subsequent webinars will focus on cancer and the impacts of exposure in early life and pregnancy.
Women’s health and endocrine disruptors: FREIA research project launches new webinar series
18th June 2024
This webinar series from the FREIA research project brings together leading partners to talk about their scientific findings after five years of research into the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on female reproduction.
Webinar – Ambient Air Quality EU Directive: A public health need
21st November 2023
Salud por Derecho, Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), Ecologistas en Acción, IS Global and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) organise a webinar entitled "Ambient Air Quality EU Directive: A public health need".
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Webinar (recordings): Reducing the urban burden of disease: from science to policy action
3rd November 2023
On #WorldCitiesDay 2023, the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) held a special webinar on the latest evidence on how people’s health in cities is affected by air pollution, noise, lack of green space, climate change, and inequalities, and how policy makers can respond to these health threats. The recordings in English, German and Polish are now online.
Webinar: Reducing the urban burden of disease: from science to policy action
11th October 2023
On #WorldCitiesDay 2023, join the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) for a special webinar on the latest evidence on how people’s health in cities is affected by air pollution, noise, lack of green space, climate change, and inequalities, and how policy makers can respond to these health threats.
Webinar recording: Building Health Bridges for Clean Air
10th October 2023
On the occasion of the 2023 #WorldCleanAirDay, the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) and the Institute for Health and Environment Slovenia organised a virtual exchange on Building health bridges for clean air.