Wednesday, December 23, 2009

EU Environment Council agreed on the need for further work on the combined effects of chemicals,

The Commission welcomed the conclusions of today' EU Environment Ministers Council that agreed on the need for further work to be carried out on the combined effects of chemicals, in particular on endocrine disruptors ─ chemicals that interfere with development, reproduction and hormonal functions.

Recent studies in Denmark have highlighted the potential dangers related to the impact of several chemicals acting together.

These studies have shown that children, particularly toddlers, may be exposed to potentially harmful levels of endocrine disrupting substances present in food, food wrappings, toys, articles of clothing and healthcare products.

Commissioner Dimas said that many studies indicated that a combination of chemicals can cause serious effects and that this was a matter that needed to be addressed.

The Commission would look at the issue of 'combined effects' in its fourth report on the implementation of the Community strategy on endocrine disruptors next year, according to Commissioner Dimas.

The Commission will also complete a report on how combined effects of chemicals are dealt with across different pieces of EU legislation and how they could better be addressed.

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