Towards an EDC Free Europe!
A coalition of public interest groups representing more than 31 organisations across Europe have come together through a concern about endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and efforts to raise public awareness and urge quicker governmental action.
| WECF Campaign
| Countries: | European Union |
| Donors: | For WECF: EEHI, Life+, Ministry of I&M the Netherlands |
| Partners: | HEAL, Wemos, Gezinsbond, PAN, BUND a.o. |
| Issues: | Chemicals & Health |
| Duration: | 12/2014 - 01/2020 |
Hormone disrupting chemicals, often known as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), are chemicals that can interfere with natural hormones, the chemical messengers of our bodies.
Our everyday exposure to these chemicals – in our homes, workplaces and communities must stop in order to protect the health of current and future generations.
A coalition of public interest groups representing more than 31 organisations across Europe have come together through a concern about endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and efforts to raise public awareness and urge quicker governmental action. Campaign partners include trade unions, consumers, public health and healthcare professionals, advocates for cancer prevention, environmentalists and women’s groups.
Why are we concerned?
We are all exposed to hormone disrupting chemicals in our daily lives (also called endocrine disrupting chemicals – EDCs). But despite growing evidence that exposure to them is contributing to a range of health problems, governments have been slow in regulating and eliminating this exposure. This Call for Action arises from the urgent need to reduce people’s exposure to EDCs and states what the EU and national governments should do. Read more
What we want
The outdated EU EDC Strategy is currently being reviewed. We need a comprehensive new strategy that effectively prevents further ill-health associated with EDCs and that lays out actions for eliminating exposure.
WECF the Netherlands, WECF France and WECF Germany are among the founders of the EDC Free Platform
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NGOs from across Europe, which are part of the coalition, have collaborated to explain what the options provided in the consultation mean, from their point and view, and have prepared standard answers that could be submitted by ordinary people. This has been done because “the European Commission has made the public consultation very technical, and seems uninterested in the public opinion on hormone disrupting chemicals,” the NGOs say.
“This is not some obscure technical issue – this is where public health protection starts,” says Genon K Jensen of the EDC-Free Europe secretariat. “If the European Commission picks the wrong criteria, they will miss the chance to govern both in the public interest, and in the best interest of industry,” she adds. Ms Jensen noted that catching and phasing out all chemicals with hormone disrupting properties will stimulate innovation and competitiveness in the European chemical industry, agricultural sector and beyond.
Further Information:
- Campaign platform: Say No to Hormone Disrupting Chemicals
- One of the partners ChemTrust has put up a blog post with an EDC FAQ & linking through to the action: A chance to tell the EU to act.
