Guidance to identify hormone-disrupting chemicals undermines environmental protection

The EU took a stand to protect people and the environment from the risk posed by endocrine disrupting chemicals, when it decided to ban the use of these substances in biocides and pesticides. But the first step to effectively achieve this is to identify which substances are EDCs.

Analysis from ClientEarth shows that the draft guidance which will be used to identify EDCs needs to be amended because in its current state, it undermines the level of environmental and health protection set by the EU.

Some methods are more able than others to identify all the endocrine disruptors that may have dangerous effects to people and the environment. The best approach would limit, as much as possible, the risk of EDCs slipping through the regulatory net.

The institutions responsible for this, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), are consulting on the draft guidance used to identify EDCs, ahead of adopting the final version in June. These bodies must amend the guidance to ensure that the pesticide and biocide regulations – which banned the use of EDCs in pesticides and biocides – is fully respected.

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