A large delegation of EDC-Free Europe campaigners took part in the first annual Forum on Endocrine Disruptors, organised by the European Commission on Friday 8th November 2019.

EDC-Free Europe called on all regulators present to recognise that there is no safe dose of exposure to toxic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and to stop delaying action to protect our health and the environment from these harmful substances.

“We are exposed to endocrine disruptors every day, to a point where nobody is able to make a conscious choice to avoid exposure”, said Natacha Cingotti, senior chemicals and health policy officer at the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) in a panel debate. “It is time for regulators to have the courage to follow the precautionary principle and put protection of health and environment at the forefront of the EU’s action.”

“We have enough knowledge today to adopt our regulatory framework to ensure better protection against exposure to EDCs across sectors. Let’s do it without further delay”, added Apolline Roger, chemicals project lead at ClientEarth.

The outgoing EU Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella stressed that endocrine disrupting chemicals are of special concern as they “affect people, and animals, when the body is particularly vulnerable, such as during conception, embryonic and foetal development, early childhood, or puberty” and that “the effects are permanent and they can sometimes be observed even in the next generation”.  

The EDC-Free Europe campaign organised a high-level briefing for Members of the European Parliament a few days prior to the EU Commission Forum, meeting with over thirty elected politicians and staff to exchange views on consumers’ concerns over widespread exposure to EDCs and policy priorities to address key gaps in legislation.

EDC-Free Europe is now looking forward to the concrete proposals the new European Commission will make to turn announcements of priorities on EDCs into actions to reduce without further delay our general exposure to this cocktail of chemicals.