Chemical Air pollution Victims’ Voices Ignored for a European Industrial Deal

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The Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, representing the nation’s Presidency of the EU Council, is internet hosting an trade summit tomorrow in collaboration with the European Chemical Trade Council (CEFIC) and its Belgian trade member affiliation Essenscia on the port of Antwerp.

This summit, attended by massive companies’ CEOs and varied high politicians together with EU Fee President Ursula von der Leyen, goals to debate the way forward for the chemical sector and probably set the technique for the EU for the subsequent 5 years within the so-called “Antwerp Declaration for a European Industrial Deal.”

Tatiana Santos, Head of Chemical substances on the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), states:

“This occasion heightens an apparent concern: the prioritisation of polluters’ earnings over public well being and the surroundings. Furthermore, in an astonishing show of disregard for the welfare of residents, this occasion is happening in one of the vital polluted areas on this planet, in the home of BASF, a global chemical large and a serious contributor to world air pollution.”

Final October 2023, air pollution victims from Belgium, Italy and France requested an viewers with Ursula von der Leyen [1] to deal with the devastating well being penalties of hazardous PFAS chemical compounds (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). Regardless of their passionate plea, their voices had been ignored.

Laura Ghiotto and Cristina Cola, Mamme no PFAS. Letter to the President of the EU Fee, Ursula von der Leyen [2]

“We breastfed them […] PFAS had been hidden in our milk. We weren’t conscious that we had been poisoning our youngsters! Now, of their blood, you could find PFAS as much as 30-40-50 occasions the extent anticipated within the common inhabitants.”

As EU leaders set their agenda forward of elections, this personal one-to-one dialogue between trade and politicians starkly contrasts with the hurdles confronted by the residents and NGOs alike in having their voices heard. In the meantime, chemical air pollution scandals proceed to unfold throughout Europe [3]. Victims decry the actions of company giants like 3M, Dupont, Chemours, or Bayer-Monsanto, who not solely conceal the dangerous results of chemical compounds however are allowed to persist of their use.

Stéphanie Escoffier, a sufferer of chemical air pollution whereas working as a chemist at ARKEMA in Lyon. Letter to the President of the EU Fee, Ursula von der Leyen [4]

“To what extent can a non-public firm pollute the surroundings and the consuming water consumed by lots of of 1000’s of individuals? And affect the well being of residents? Who’s liable for assessing the chance/profit steadiness for society from the manufacturing of those poisonous chemical compounds?”

The outcomes of Europe’s largest screening program for poisonous chemical compounds, the HBM4EU [5], reveal alarming ranges of publicity to chemical compounds linked to critical well being issues equivalent to most cancers, infertility and delivery defects. Regardless of mounting proof and public outcry, policymakers proceed to succumb to trade strain, delaying the much-needed reform of the EU’s outdated chemical compounds management regulation, REACH (the Regulation on the Registration, Analysis, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances), and reneging on guarantees in its Chemical substances Sustainability Technique for a toxic-free Europe.

Vicky Can, researcher and campaigner at Company Europe Observatory, states:

“Tomorrow, polluters may have a very good day on the expense of individuals and communities throughout Europe. This cosy foyer occasion with the Large Toxics trade, held on the doorstep of a few of Europe’s worst ‘endlessly chemical compounds’ contamination, is appalling. It’s time to carry firms to account for his or her function within the creating the poisonous air pollution disaster, not reward them. Tomorrow NGOs will demand an finish this sort of privileged entry to decision-makers. It’s time for toxic-free politics.”

For a lot of European residents the urgency for change has by no means been clearer. Many have united to name for a toxics-free Europe, with a petition that has reached virtually 100,000 signatures [6] in only a few days. Tomorrow, a number of NGOs will name on EU leaders to prioritise public well being and environmental sustainability over company pursuits [7].

[1] https://eeb.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/20231002-Letter-to-President-Fee.pdf

[2] https://eeb.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Laura-Ghiotto-and-Cristina-Cola-Mamme-no-PFASs.-Letter-to-the-President-of-the-EU-Fee.pdf

[3] A number of scandals have unfolded in current months from the Veneto area of Italy to the “chemical valley” of France, The Netherlands, Belgium, each Flanders and Wallonia, to Sweden, and past.

[4] https://eeb.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Stephanie-Escoffier-Letter-to-the-President-of-the-EU-Fee-Ursula-von-der-Leyen.pdf

[5] The European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU), Europe’s largest ever screening programme for poisonous chemical compounds, examined greater than 13,000 folks from 28 European international locations and located that the inhabitants is uncovered to “alarmingly excessive” ranges of hazardous chemical compounds, particularly of kids.

[6] https://motion.wemove.eu/signal/2024-01-ban-forever-chemicals-EN

[7] On the eve of this industrial summit, local weather and residents’ actions in Antwerp deliver collectively scientists and commerce unions to debate another imaginative and prescient of a social and ecological port. The talk will give attention to points associated to the well being of staff and native residents, the scientific state of play on PFAS and the rehabilitation of Zwijndrecht and Linkeroever extremely polluted areas.

Press contact: EEB Communications Officer, Beatriz Ortiz Martínez, ortiz-martinez@eeb.org (ES / EN / FR)

Courtesy of EEB.