{"id":116373,"date":"2024-10-21T11:23:20","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T09:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/?p=116373"},"modified":"2024-10-21T11:50:32","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T09:50:32","slug":"eu-delayed-bans-for-dangerous-chemicals-ombudsman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/hu\/eu-delayed-bans-for-dangerous-chemicals-ombudsman\/","title":{"rendered":"EU delayed bans for dangerous chemicals: Ombudsman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyday products likely caused cancer, infertility and other harms because European Commission delayed bans recommended by scientific advisors<\/span><\/h3>\n

Legal deadline routinely broken over nearly two decades shows that business interests trump health and environment – NGOs<\/span><\/h3>\n

EU officials broke the law by delaying bans on dangerous chemicals over the course of nearly two decades, a European Ombudsman investigation <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> today.<\/span><\/p>\n

The European Commission takes 14.5 months on average to decide whether or not to allow companies to continue using banned chemicals, almost five times the legal limit, the Ombudsman Emily O\u2019Reilly confirmed today. This constitutes <\/span>maladministration<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The delays allow companies to legally continue using substances that <\/span>EU scientific advisors<\/span><\/a> have discovered are a cancer risk, impact fertility or cause other serious harms. This likely amounted to thousands of tonnes per year used in a wide range of products. Those products remain an uncontrolled threat to human health, recycling streams and the environment, the non-profit organisations ClientEarth and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) said.<\/span><\/p>\n

ClientEarth legal expert H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Duguy said:<\/b> \u201cThe Ombudsman\u2019s investigation shows how reckless the EU Commission has been with chemicals rules. Yet those rules are there for a reason \u2013 to protect people\u2019s health. This unacceptable behaviour undermines the rule of law and people\u2019s trust in EU institutions. It\u2019s now time that EU officials pay heed to the Ombudsman\u2019s recommendations and prioritise public interest over the profits of toxic companies.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

EEB head of chemicals policy Tatiana Santos said:<\/b> \u201cTheir scientists called for controls. The Commission dragged its feet. Why? The weakness of their excuses tells its own story. A lack of meeting rooms to make life and death decisions? Tell that to a family hit by cancer or infertility from chemical exposure. Every day of Commission delay let dangerous chemicals flow into products and poison the public. Europe should prove a greater sense of urgency and move away from them and towards companies innovating safer, green chemistry and a long-term, prosperous future.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If the delays resulted from a culture of inaction inside the Commission, they are set to get much worse. A pro-business fever has swept Brussels in recent months, with deregulation and competitiveness the new mantra. <\/span>Demands<\/span><\/a> first proposed by the chemical lobby are pervasive in President Ursula von der Leyen\u2019s new European Commission <\/span>plans<\/span><\/a>, while the EU Green Deal has <\/span>wilted<\/span><\/a>. Inspiring <\/span>reforms<\/span><\/a> to the main EU chemicals <\/span>regulation<\/span><\/a> have been shifted into a <\/span>Chemicals Industry Package<\/span> for \u201csimplification\u201d to reduce industry \u2018burden\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Simplification should mean faster chemical controls, ClientEarth and the EEB say. That means clearer timelines, simplified hazard identification and control, and an approach that prevents rather than cracks down on chemical pollution. A <\/span>precautionary<\/span><\/a> principle is already written into EU chemical law but is never applied, the Commission <\/span>confirmed<\/span><\/a> recently. Regulators and victims of chemical pollution should get more powers to make polluters pay, they say.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ombudsman <\/span>credited<\/span><\/a> EEB research that first raised the alarm over the Commission delays. The 2022 <\/span>study<\/span><\/a> highlighted far wider problems than just the Commission. It found that it takes EU officials no more than three weeks to allow poorly understood chemicals onto the market, then around a decade to understand their dangers and another decade to ban or restrict those found to be dangerous, allowing widespread harms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scientists recently declared that chemical pollution has passed planetary <\/span>limits<\/span><\/a>. Daily exposure to a mix of toxic substances is linked to rising health, fertility and developmental problems, as well as the collapse of insect, bird and mammal populations. Throughout the last decade, polls have shown a high level of public <\/span>concern<\/span><\/a> about chemical threats.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last year the Ombudsman told the Commission to stop other secretive behaviour on chemicals policy. A year <\/span>later<\/span><\/a>, it is yet to comply. Information it is trying to keep secret has been seen by the EEB. This shows\u00a0 that direct costs to the chemical industry of banning the most harmful chemicals from consumer and professional products would be offset more than <\/span>10 times over<\/span><\/a> by human health benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

ENDS<\/b><\/p>\n

A media briefing summarising the threat from synthetic chemicals, the Ombudsman\u2019s investigation, political context and case studies of the uncontrolled chemicals is available <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

CONTACTS<\/b><\/p>\n