The European Commission presented on 4/25/22 a Restrictions Roadmap for the elimination of thousands of hazardous chemicals found in many everyday products. (1) The initiative gets praise from the NGO network EEB(European Environmental Bureau), which calls it ‘the biggest move to detoxify the European economy that the EU has ever undertaken.’ (2)
Restrictions Roadmap against toxic chemicals
Theroadmap (Restrictions Roadmap) presented by the European Commission is basically a political commitment to accelerate the implementation of the strategy defined in October 2020, in the wake of the European Green Deal and the ‘zero pollution’ ambition.
The novelty is in the method. In fact, there is provision for the elimination of entire groups of chemicals if a substance recognized as harmful to health is part of them. In this way, the ploy of the chemical industry, which makes up for the ban on the use of one substance by creating another through a small change in the formula, is prevented. A winning tactic, considering that institutions take decades to define the safety of use of a new substance based on the little data provided by the industry itself.
A race against time
To understand the imbalance of the system, consider that (in addition to molecules banned in cosmetics and toys) ‘the EU has restricted only 15 chemicals in the last 14 years under REACH, just over one substance per year (…) while globally, industry creates, on average, one new chemical every 1.4 seconds‘, EEB recalls.
Currently, in 2022, there are more than 190 million synthetic chemicals registered globally. Sales more than doubled between 2000 and 2017 and are expected to double again by 2030 and quadruple by 2060.
Three-quarters (by volume) of the chemicals produced in Europe are hazardous.
Hazardous substances
From 2009 to March 1, 2022, 1,680 chemicals were banned from cosmetics and another 323 were restricted (allowed only under certain conditions), while during the same period 1,775 chemicals were banned from toys. This will be largely overcome, according to what was announced in the Restrictions Roadmap.
Chemicals that have been mentioned several times, including on this site, for their toxicity appear on the European Roadmap list:
– PFAS
– ‘flame retardants,’ often linked to the occurrence of cancer,
– all bisphenols, widely used in plastics and known as endocrine disruptors (of human hormones),
– PVC, the least recyclable plastic and full of toxic additives,
– 2,000 other harmful chemicals found in diapers, pacifiers and baby products.
EEB provides an in-depth look at the 6 worst groups of chemicals.
1) Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its additives.
PVC is the fourth most common type of plastic in Europe; it is used in about 6.5 million tons of products each year. It is one of the most problematic forms of plastic for human health and the environment and the least recyclable of all plastics. When sent to landfills or incinerators it releases dioxins, which are carcinogenic and highly persistent in the environment.
It is used in many commonly used products, such as toys and inflatables (swimming pools, water sports accessories, trampolines), packaging and food contact materials, clothing and leatherette upholstery, shoes, building materials, etc.).
Chemical additives, used in significant quantities to transform PVC properties (durability, color, etc.), are included in the scope of the proposed restriction. Additives are used in fairly high proportions (10-60%). For example, PVC toys can contain up to 40% phthalates.
Safer alternatives are already available for almost all uses of PVC.
2) PFAS
About 4,700 perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances that are so persistent in the environment that they are known as ‘forever chemicals,’ ineliminable pollutants, belong to the PFAS group.
They will be banned for ‘nonessential uses,’ an area on which each individual state will decide. PFASs are used in a wide variety of consumer items, in food contact materials such as take-out food and other packaging to nonstick coatings, from stain-resistant and waterproof clothing to sunscreens and cosmetics, even in dental floss.
3) Bisphenols, including BPA
Bisphenols are more than 200 substances, 37 of which may have endocrine disrupting properties. They are used in large quantities in plastics such as PVC, polycarbonate and epoxy resins.
BPA damages fertility and fetuses. Scientific studies suggest that it may be linked to obesity, diabetes, and may damage our immune system. It is found in a wide range of consumer goods, such as sports equipment, CDs, DVDs, car parts, and food containers, such as reusable beverage bottles and reusable plastic tableware.
New studies indicate that BPA-substituted chemicals such as BPF, BPS, BPAF, along with bisphenol Z (BPZ), bisphenol E (BPE), and bisphenol B (BPB) are suspected of disrupting hormones and have been linked to health effects such as precocious puberty, adverse effects on metabolism, thyroid function, and neurobehavioral development.
4) Flame retardants
Flame retardants must be added by law in a wide range of household items, including baby products (such as crib mattresses), furniture (such as high chairs for children) and textiles (including of car seats), building materials and electronics for the purpose of slowing fires.
Many flame retardants are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, often linked to cancer, reproductive toxicity, neurodevelopmental problems. Firefighters say smoke from fires has become more toxic because of flame retardants, reports EEB, which denounces a ‘decades-long pattern of deplorable substitution to avoid regulation.’ According to the ruse described above, the tobacco industry has gradually modified flame retardants, first based on chlorinated compounds, then fluorinated and now based on brominated and phosphate compounds to avoid regulation.
5) Chemical substances in baby products.
Approximately 1,775 chemicals are known or suspected to cause cancer, genetic mutations, or damage the reproductive system and neurodevelopment, but are nevertheless used in childcare articles.
They are found in baby/toddler pacifiers (pacifiers), teething toys, bath products, general body care products (such as soaps, shampoos, or baby creams), feeding products (such as baby dishes or cutlery), etc.
6) Toxic chemicals in disposable diapers.
Disposable baby diapers, menstrual and incontinence diapers contain dozens of hazardous chemicals, including formaldehyde, PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and dioxins (PCCD/F, DL-PCB and PCBs).
The health risk is associated with the presence of formaldehyde, which is carcinogenic, mutagenic and a skin sensitizer. Other alarming substances include.
- PAHs (carcinogens and endocrine disruptors),
- dioxins (carcinogenic, reprotoxic and endocrine disrupting),
- PCBs (carcinogenic and reprotoxic and in long-term exposure associated with hepatic, immunological, neurological, metabolic and endocrine effects).
The timing of the Restrictions Roadmap
The political will of the EU and member states will dictate the timing of the implementation of the Restrictions Roadmap.
‘Some chemicals listed in the Roadmap were already subject to EU restrictions, but most are new. The ban process for all chemicals on the list will begin within two years. All substances will disappear by 2030‘, EEB estimates.
Marta Strinati
Notes
(1) Commission Staff Working Document, Restrictions Roadmap under the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, 25.4.22, https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/49734?fbclid=IwAR0Ftb0aCg9_umH4lMvPBAuwekVQZiqGrL4jnOD7urUYAwz3nT6o8FHUd8E
(2) EEB, European Environmental Bureau, is the largest European network of environmental NGOs. It brings together more than 170 civil society organizations from more than 35 European countries (all EU member states plus some accession and neighboring countries), including a growing number of European networks. It is joined by the Italian Legambiente, CieloBuio, Cities for Air, Eliante, National Federation Pro Natura, Free Rivers Italy, Parents Antismog, Italian Speleological Society. On the Restrictions Roadmap, see https://eeb.org/the-great-detox-largest-ever-ban-of-toxic-chemicals-announced-by-eu/
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".