Will multinationals soon have a licence to contaminate us with toxic substances?
This is the gift that the European Commission could offer to industrial agro-chemicals that produce endocrine disrupters - you know, those ubiquitous chemical pollutants such as bisphenol A, phthalates, and other pesticides which can contaminate our bodies and cause cancer, infertility, birth defects, obesity, etc... and the list goes on.
Big companies like Monsanto and BASF have lobbied hard for little regulation around these dangerous chemicals. So much so that NGOs and experts fear for our health and safety.
But thanks to the tremendous work of our partners, there’s been a breakthrough. EU countries meet in a few weeks to decide on these chemicals.
If we send a strong message to European governments to say no the proposal from the Commission, together we can protect our health and safety.
Ask European governments to respect the precautionary principle and to reject the outrageous proposal from the European Commission on Endocrine Disruptors.
In 2009, the regulations governing the pesticide markets in Europe was adopted, promising to restrict and ban before any placing on the market endocrine disruptors may have an adverse effect on humans.
But with the current proposal from the European Commission on the table, "the standard of proof is so high that we have to wait for years of damage our health before withdrawing from the market," according to an endocrine disruptor expert, Lisette van Vliet.
In short, countless people must first suffer before a these chemicals can be banned. We can't gamble with people's health and safety -- it's not a risk worth taking.
Let’s stop the agri-giants from harming our health. If we mobilise hundreds of thousands of SumOfUs members to speak up, we could get our governments to stop this once and for all.
Tell EU governments to reject the Commission's proposal and stop the use of these toxic chemicals!
For two whole years, the Commission has dragged its feet and failed to regulate polluting chemicals. The General Court even found that the Commission had "violated its obligations" on this.
Now, the Commission has submitted a weak proposal that will not allow protect us against cancer and other health problems.
This caused a huge outcry. A coalition of NGOs, including SumOfUs and associations such as HEAL and Future Generations is organizing at this very moment at EU level to prevent this.
Together, we’ve kept our communities safe from big companies’ polluting chemivals. Working with our partners in Europe, we managed to prevent the renewal of Monsanto's favorite pesticide -- glyphosate -- for 15 more years. The same goes for neonics -- the pesticides decimating the bee population. They will now be banned completely in France in 2020 (with strong restrictions kicking in from 2018).
Our massive mobilizations work.Let's do it again to stop multinationals like Monsanto and BASF from poisoning us and our communities.
Demand our governments they refuse the proposal from the European Commission and stop these toxic chemicals now.
More information
Environmental Health News. 1 December 2016.
Environmental Health News. 1 December 2016.
Le Monde. 29 November 2016.
EU Observer. 16 June 2016.
The Parliament Magazine. 16 June 2016.
Environmental Health News. 8 June 2016.