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ISDE Open letter to the first Executive Director of the new European Chemicals Agency in charge of the implementation of REACH
I S D E
P.O. Box 111
4013 Basel
Switzerland
Phone: +41-61-3224949
Fax: +41-61-3838049
info@isde.org
http://www.isde.org
President:
Vyvyan Howard
UK
President-elect
Hanns Moshammer
Austria
Past President and
International Coordinator
Lilian Corra
Argentina
President
Scientific Office:
Roberto Romizi
Italy
Vice-Presidents
Raul Harari
Latin America (Ecuador)
Cathey Falvo
North America (USA)
Philip Michael
Europe (Ireland)
Paul Saoke
Africa (Kenya)
Treasurer
Peter Kälin
Switzerland
International Society of Doctors for the Environment
Linking Human Health and the Environment
Coleraine, November 21st, 2007
Dear Mr Dancet,
Congratulations upon your appointment as the first Executive Director of the new European Chemicals Agency in charge of the implementation of REACH. As the President of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE), I want to take the opportunity to draw your attention to the important challenges before you with respect to the protection and improvement of public health via REACH.
Today, ISDE Europe is releasing a briefing aimed to educate health professionals about REACH, entitled "What will new EU Chemicals Legislation Deliver for Public Health?" The potential is vast, but your future actions will have a large influence on the extent to which that potential becomes realised. Current regulations have not achieved a very high level of health protection. Statistics linking ill health to workplace exposure make this abundantly clear, with thousands of people affected (please see our attached briefing). Failure to control chemicals has even resulted in measurable deficits in IQ and attention disorders in children (see Chemicals Compromising Our Children, http://www.env-health.org/IMG/pdf/ 18June07_final_Briefneuro_for_EU.pdf)
Beyond workplace exposures, concern is rising about public daily life exposures to hazardous chemicals and the links to disease. Although much general public perception about the origins of disease has in the past mostly been ascribed to genetics, increasing evidence suggests that chemicals in our environment may play a role in allergic reactions, birth defects, fertility problems, male reproductive ill health, and cancers - many of which are on the rise (improvements in mortality rates notwithstanding). Chemical exposures have also been implicated in a plethora of other conditions including endometriosis, diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerative conditions, immune system effects and adverse effects on brain function.
We urge you to ensure that the new Chemicals Agency, through the implementation of REACH and its legislative reviews, achieves the strongest possible protection of public health.
Yours Sincerely,
Professor C. Vyvyan Howard MB. ChB. PhD. FRCPath.
ISDE is a global NGO of doctors, scientists and health professionals focused on the linkages between human health and environmental factors. Possessing official consultative status with the UN and WHO, we build local capacity through technical training, education, awareness-raising, and research.