In view of the REACH revision, and ahead of the Informal meeting of Environment and Climate ministers on 10-11 July, the EDC-Free Europe coalition issued a statement strongly recommending that the revision process incorporates the commitments made under the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability and extends the generic approach to risk management (GRA) to include known and presumed (Category 1), and suspected endocrine disruptors (Category 2), for both human health and the environment.  

The EU’s flagship framework for industrial chemicals, the regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), remains inadequate to address the health threats posed by endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The newly introduced hazard classes for endocrine disruptors in the Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation (CLP) and the revision of the REACH Regulation provide a timely opportunity to enhance protection for both human health and the environment. 

The statement, sent out to EU member states representatives, calls on EU decision makers to address the current shortcomings in REACH, by establishing coherent control frameworks to reduce exposures to EDCs once they are classified under the CLP Regulation. 

The recommendation in the statement is grounded in three key aspects that highlight the need to ensure consistent risk management for EDCs: 

  • EDCs are of similar concern to CMRs 
  • EDCs Category 2 are not less harmful than Category 1 
  • Lack of comprehensive data makes it challenging to achieve ED Category 1 classification for many substances 

Click here to read the statement in English and Spanish (translation to ES provided by Ecologistas en Accion, Spain). 

For a comprehensive overview on the key elements necessary to improve the European regulatory framework on EDCs, read the EDC-Free Europe statement: 7 priorities to protect people and environment from harm caused by endocrine-disrupting chemicals and the summary   

For more detailed recommendations on the REACH revision, read the comments submitted by EDC-Free Europe partners on the REACH revision options presented at CARACAL 54: