NEWS & MEDIA

373 civil society and Indigenous Peoples organizations from 74 countries urged leaders at a historic global conference to act with urgency to phase out Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs), a particular group of pesticides that cause the most severe harm to human health and the environment and are considered too dangerous for use.

Today, the European Parliament plenary voted on the revision of the EU’s Ambient Air Quality Directive (AAQD) (2022/0347(COD)). The report by rapporteur Javi Lopez was voted on with 363 in favour, 226 against, and 46 abstentions.

A statement published today by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide on the planet, does not pose unacceptable risks for human health, despite independent scientific evidence to the contrary. More...

Anne Stauffer, Deputy Director of the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) comments: “The ENVI committee has taken a major step towards cleaner air for everyone today: health groups are delighted that MEPs followed the science, and people’s needs by supporting an ambitious overhaul of the EU’s clean air standards. More...

A new website by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) sheds light on five cases of PFAS pollution affecting communities across Europe and provides resources for concerned citizens and health professionals to take action.

373 civil society and Indigenous Peoples organizations from 74 countries urged leaders at a historic global conference to act with urgency to phase out Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs), a particular group of pesticides that cause the most severe harm to human health and the environment and are considered too dangerous for use.

HEAL, ISDE Italy and the Belgian Independent Health Insurance Funds call on European governments to rely on independent scientific evidence and support a full ban of glyphosate’s market license, ahead of a meeting between member states’ representatives in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF) taking place on 15 September. 

Die Deutsche Allianz Klimawandel und Gesundheit e.V. (KLUG) und die Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) wenden sich deshalb am Internationalen Tag der Sauberen Luft in einem offenen Brief an Herrn Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz und fordern ihn auf, sich stärker für bessere Luftqualität einzusetzen.

The Green 10, of which HEAL is part of, has written a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, to express their concern about the nomination of the Dutch Designate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra as Climate Commissioner:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The webinar series is open to health sector representatives, who want to build their knowledge on the relevant science, and anyone interested and working on the topics of healthy transport and healthy cities.

The webinar series is open to health sector representatives, who want to build their knowledge on the relevant science, and anyone interested and working on the topics of healthy transport and healthy cities.