Groups advocating for greater control over endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) – a range of common substances linked to cancer, reproductive and other adverse health effects – have said European Commission (EC) proposals “will do nothing to protect human health.” The proposed criteria on EDCs were announced on 16 June 2016 by EC Health Commissioner Vytenis … Continue reading European Commission proposals on endocrine disruptors criticised →

The failure of the European Commission to deliver legislation on endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is alarming, leading members of the Socialists and Democrats grouping (S&D) in the European Parliament have said. An industry lobbying and product defence campaign set out to dissuade the European Commission from acting, and January 2014 the Commission said it would delay … Continue reading MEPs criticise inaction on endocrine disruptors →

A global expert body on occupational health has called on the European Union to introduce stringent controls on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The Collegium Ramazzini, an international academy of 180 experts in environmental and occupational health from 35 countries, released a statement calling for new ways to test chemicals and to revise current approaches to … Continue reading Experts call for controls on endocrine disrupters →

This report published by the European Commission examines the test methods for this group of chemicals and notes evidence of increases in many endocrine-related disorders in humans has strengthened since the 1990s. The issue is important especially with regard to breast cancer and prostate cancer, which have been linked in recent studies to occupation (or … Continue reading EC links endocrine disrupters to breast and prostate cancer →

Researchers used a Job Exposure Matrix (JEM) to estimate which jobs involve exposure to endocrine disrupters. They found: “Exposure to any chemical group was unlikely for 238 job titles (67 per cent), whereas 102 (29 per cent) job titles were classified as possibly (17 per cent) or probably (12 per cent) exposed to one or … Continue reading Up to a third of jobs could involve exposure to endocrine disrupters →

A top European Union committee has for the first time recognised chemicals as hormone disrupting for humans. Substances with these endocrine disrupting (EDCs) properties have been linked to cancer, reproductive problems and other health effects. Now, as a result of the February 2017 vote by the EU REACH committee, the EDC notation on four chemicals … Continue reading EU panel recognises four chemicals as human hormone disrupters →

Some workers who make or work with the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) have levels in their bodies 1,000 times higher than the general public, a study by a US government agency has found. The research led by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found, on average, these workers had 70 times more … Continue reading Work with BPA leads to enormous body load →

The European Commission’s drive to simplify legislation for businesses has come under fire from trade unions for blocking EU laws that could save thousands of lives per year. Laurent Vogel, a senior researcher at the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), said that more than 100,000 workers were dying from work-related cancers each year, and blamed … Continue reading European Commission blamed for 100,000 work cancers each year →

A newly merged breast cancer charity has been urged to acknowledge the environmental and occupational links to breast cancer and to back calls for prevention. An open letter signed by concerned organisations and scientists expresses the hope that the merger between Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the Breast Cancer Campaign will prompt “progressive changes to breast … Continue reading New UK breast cancer charity urged to recognise risks →

Common industrial chemicals that disrupt human hormones and damage health could be costing Europe more than £110 billion a year, according to new research. The international team behind the research presented their findings at the annual meeting of the Endocrinology Society in Brussels. They said their estimates on the high economic impact of chemicals in … Continue reading Hormone-disrupting chemicals ‘cost billions’ in Europe →