Event
Wemos is organising a seminar for Dutch Members of Parliament at The Hague, Netherlands, to discuss the effects and costs of hormone disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the Netherlands, as well as the EU Commission’s proposed criteria for identifying EDCs and the European decision-making process.
Speakers
Dr. Marjorie van Duursen (University of Utrecht) and Medical Doctor and Professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon (Endocrine Society).
Follow up: Everybody is exposed to EDCs – even (Dutch) MEPs
Together with the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) of the VU Amsterdam, Wemos studied urine samples of four Dutch MEPs to determine whether they had been exposed to BPA and phthalates. In the Dutch TV programme Radar, global health advocate Annelies den Boer showed the results of the test to these MEPs: all four had been exposed to BPA and phthalates.
This outcome is similar to that of other European and American studies, which revealed that basically everyone is exposed to EDCs – on a day-to-day basis – due to their ubiquitous presence. The four politicians (of Dutch political parties PvdA (Labor Party), GroenLinks, SP (Socialist Party), PvdD (Animal Welfare Party)) were shocked and surprised by the result of the test, as most thought to be healthy and well-aware of harmful substances, organic products, and the health risks of plastic. Despite this awareness and related lifestyle, the test showed that reducing or limiting exposure to EDCs is extremely difficult, nearly impossible.
Liesbeth van Tongeren (GroenLinks): “I’ve known about this issue for a long time now. I really do my best: I read most labels, I try not to use plastic food containers. So I’m surprised that you still managed to find something after all.”
Wemos wants the Dutch government to implement a national plan for harmful substances, similar to the countries France and Denmark. Such a plan would include, for example, biomonitoring programs, which Belgium and the USA already have.
Watch the RADAR programme (Dutch spoken!)
Newsitem about this on our website (Dutch)
Wemos has long called on the EU to ban endocrine disrupting substances and they advocate for the Netherlands to implement national measures against these substances. The work of Wemos on harmful substances can be found here.
