IPEN joined over 65 organizations signing-on to a letter to the President of the European Parliament expressing concerns that the European Commission (EC) is failing to respect the European Parliament's 2015 resolution on the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
The European Commission has issued a draft decision to the REACH Committee that would authorize use of two toxic lead pigments in the EU for non-consumer use, despite the availability of well-known alternatives. The decision was made over strong objections from EU governments, industry and NGOs.
The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), ChemSec and IPEN sent two letters to the REACH Committee calling on the members to reject authorization when it is put to a final vote on July 6th-7th. In addition, NGOs around the world have signed a letter to the Committee highlighting the potential harmful consequences from such an authorization in non-EU countries, as lead-containing products may be exported to markets where there aren't any safeguards to prevent these hazardous products from being sold to consumers.
Brussels, Luxembourg – A crucial court hearing against the European Commission took place yesterday. (1) The European Union Court of Justice in Luxembourg heard Sweden’s case against the Commission for failing to fulfil its legal obligations regarding hormone disrupting chemicals, also known as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). (1)
IPEN has joined other NGO representatives, doctors and professors in a letter to the editor in support of Friends of the Earth (FoE) UK and in response to a pro-fracking article in The Times (UK). The article quotes Cuadrilla, an oil and gas exploration and production company with headquarters and operations in the United Kingdom, who disparages Friends of the Earth’s assertions that silica, which is sometimes used in fracking operations, has been shown to pose a silicosis and lung cancer risk.
Loophole will give banned flame retardants a second life in consumers’ homes
Geneva/Brussels – Public interest groups are calling on the European Commission to ban the recycling of materials containing toxic flame retardants. In a letter delivered this morning, the Centre for International Environmental Law, the European Environmental Bureau, Women in Europe for Common Future and IPEN, supported by a host of NGOs worldwide, highlighted the need to stop DecaBDE [1] reappearing in recycled products.
IPEN worked with partners Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) to send a letter to the European Commission about the European Union's position on the recent proposal to recycle materials containing the toxic flame retardant DecaBDE. This proposal will be addressed at the upcoming meeting of the Stockholm Convention POPs Review Committee (POPRC) in October and the letter urges the Commission to take a clear position against recycling materials containing DecaBDE.
Although hormone-disrupting chemicals are recognised as a global public health threat by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Commission's public consultation on the matter, which closes today (16 January), is only meant to delay action and regulation, argues Génon K. Jensen.