Recent scientific studied show that chemical components industrially produced can be found in humans and animals. A research work carried out in Europe by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF-Adena) proved that in the blood of three successive generations there is a mixing of up to seventy different chemical substances, which are not produced naturally in the environment. Some of them, like brominated flame retarders, reach their highest levels in children. In other study by WWF-Adena, they did research into chemical components in blood from the umbilical cord of newborns and they found out that all the blood samples contained synthetic chemical components. This proves that many chemical components are transferred from the mother to the foetus during pregnancy. In addition, other many components are stable, and therefore, they remain in our organism during the rest of our lives. The main question is, have these components any effects on our health?
Now we know that there are many diseases whose incidence is increasing in Western world . They are diseases such as testicle cancer, diabetes, allergies, sterility, premature puberty and mental disorders. This increase is partially connected with changes in the lifestyle, including eating more, leading a sedentary life and doing less exercise. However, it is also probable that the increase in the incidence of some diseases is due to the multiple chemical agents we are exposed to since pregnancy, during pregnancy and adult life, which affect our hormonal system and, in the long term, produce the diseases. We know that it is especially worrying that foetus, during their development, are exposed to chemical components which affect the hormonal system, as often hormones regulate the normal development of the foetus. Chemical components can also induce diseases during the foetal development which will be revealed decades later. It means that we will only see the effect of today’s exposure to chemical agents in twenty or thirty years.
This month of November, the European Parliament is going to express its opinion about a proposal for a new international legislation as regards chemical components. The proposal, called REACH, says that all the chemical components used in industry must be assessed and authorized and the spreading of harmful chemical components must be restricted. Obviously, no chemical component should be released in the environment, but this is not the case.
REACH confronts a strong opposition in Europe, especially by sectors of the chemical industry. It is due to that the proposal forces the industry to be responsible for the analysis and assessment of the risks of the chemical substances that they manufacture or import. In autumn, the parliamentary committee of the EU discussed the REACH proposal. The Committees of Industry and Internal Market suggested a modified proposal, with less requirements as regards chemical substances analysis and less responsibilities for the industry as regards the financing of the analysis. However, the Committee of Environment voted for that the REACH project was conserved as originally, forcing the industry to be completely responsible for the chemical components they produce.
The members of the European Parliament and the Committee are being pressed to vote against project REACH. Those who oppose REACH say that thousand position will disappear if the REACH proposal goes ahead. On the other hand, REACH defenders argue that it should be clear that the industry that benefits from the production of chemical substances should be involved and pay the research works on the risks of chemical substances. There is a clear parallelism with the philosophy of the drug industry, which pays and carries out rigorous tests for each new product before registering it as a medicine and commercializing it.
As researchers of chemical components which affect the hormonal system, we think it is extremely important that the REACH project receives support in the voting to go ahead and that the proposal must include the analysis of most chemical components, those produced both in small and great amounts. In our opinion, the decision about the use of a chemical agent should be based on scientific data on the toxic properties of the substance. The European Chemical Industry Council, CEFIC, does not consider that nowadays situation with chemical substances in our organism to be alarming, as these substances are present in relatively small amounts. However, as many chemical substances are interactive, we must study not only the harmful effect of a chemical agent individually, but also determine the effect of the exposure to hundred or thousand chemical substances during decades.
We think that the European Parliament must consider the effects in the long term of chemical exposure and protect the European population of the involuntary exposure to these substances. In order to get to know more and better the effect of chemical substances on our health, we want to see major efforts on research and education on environmental toxins and on the development of tests determining the health risks of chemical substances. It is also important that REACH determines who will finance the tests with chemical substances, irrespective of whether the industry or the European states the main persons in charge for the tests.
In addition, we think that the REACH proposal goes hand in hand with the strategy of the EU of becoming the most competitive world economy based on knowledge, where consumers have the chance of choosing safer products better than products manufactured with uncontrolled and unknown components. A well-controlled chemical product will have the advantage over the competition when informed consumers choose their products respectfully with the environment, something that some companies have already noticed and try to sell products without toxins.
The lack of precaution and knowledge lead in the seventies to the spreading of toxic substances such as dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in the environment. Despite the fact that nowadays the use of these PCB has been banned and the efforts to restrict dioxin release, the levels keep being so high in many animal species that the Food Committee has advised some European countries to limit the consumption for women in fertile age. When we become aware of that many chemical substances are affecting our health, we will have to be responsible for the future generations and stop the uncontrolled spreading of chemical compounds.
If REACH gets enough support to go ahead in the European Parliament, it will replace forty acts of the EU. REACH will be harmonized and there will be a common regulation for all the European member states. Irrespective of our attitude towards economic policy, agricultural policy or a possible European federation, environmental policy is a field where the EU, through a stricter regulation, can have a positive effect all over Europe. A healthy environment must be a priority in the wish list of the European citizens.
List of signatories of this article
Nicolás Olea, Professor of the Department of Radiology and Physical Medicine
Phone number. 958 242 864. E-mail. nolea@ugr.es
Jan-Åke Gustafsson, Prof Stockholm
Adriana Maggi, Prof. Milano
Emilio Benfenati, Dr Milano
Catherine Leclercq, Dr Rome
Barbara Demeneix, Prof. Paris
Vincent Laudet, Prof. Lyon
Jean-Pierre Cravedi, Dr Toulouse
Patrick Prunet, Dr. Rennes
Patrick Balaguer, Dr Montpellier
Juan Carlos Morales Sánchez, Dr Granada
Guenter Gauglitz, Prof. Tuebingen,
Martin Goettlicher, Prof. Munich
Karl-Werner Schramm, Prof. Munich
Wolfgang Wuttke, Prof. Göttingen
Christian Behl, Prof. Mainz
Janos Garai, Prof. Pecs
Sari Mäkelä, Prof. Turku
Olli A. Jänne, Prof. Helsinki
Matti Poutanen, Dr Turku
Wout Slob, Prof. Bilthoven
Julius Brtko, Prof. Bratislava
These researchers are in the Excellence Network of the European Union CASCADE, which carries out research, education and risk assessment works on chemical compounds and food pollutants. For further information
http://www.cascadenet.org
