EU proposal ignores many products with hormone-altering chemicals, groups claim

The European Commission’s proposal for identifying endocrine-disrupting chemicals should apply to more than just pesticides and biocides, advocacy groups say in a new report. The groups are urging the commission—the European Union’s executive branch—to create a single, unified system across all sectors to identify chemicals that disrupt hormone activity. Such a system is needed to protect people and the environment from endocrine disruptors in cosmetics, food contact materials, drinking water, toys, and other consumer products, the groups say. The commission’s proposal, which was released in June of last year, is intended to help EU regulators determine which chemicals in pesticides and biocides, such as hand disinfectants, are endocrine disruptors. The criteria “must work alongside other laws, for example on cosmetics, water, or chemicals in general,” says Vito Buonsante, law and policy adviser at ClientEarth and coauthor of the report. “The EU criteria to identify endocrine disruptors would be the first standards for these chemicals worldwide and set a precedent,” says Giulia Carlini, project attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law and coauthor of the report.