Although an important first step, there is still a need to address serious chemical safety issues at the second and third tier supplier levels, as well as for full disclosure of all the chemicals used in the electronics manufacturing process.
IPEN Participating Organization Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) launched figures today showing that exposure to endocrine disruptors may be responsible for up to €31 billion per year in health costs in the European Union.
On June 10, 2014, IPEN joined more than 80 environmental and human rights organizations, socially responsible investment firms, and occupational health professionals to send a letter to Lisa Jackson, Vice President of Environmental Affairs at Apple, calling on the company to remove hazardous chemicals, such as benzene, from its supplier factories in an effort to protect workers from grave illnesses.
"Parents are more and more concerned: our offices are flooded with information requests from worried mothers and fathers who are outraged because they have no means of knowing which harmful substances are in toys, and that policy makers and industry are not doing enough to protect their children’s health. They demand full disclosure of ingredients (as with cosmetics) and stricter laws that apply the precautionary principle, with zero tolerance for harmful chemicals".
by Alexandra Caterbow, senior chemicals/health policy adviser, WECF
IPEN Participating Organization Génération Futures and the network Réseau Environnementale Santé (RES) have issued a press release wecloming a new report from the French national assembly asking for more urgent action nationally and from the European Union on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), and outlining their expectations. Read the whole release here.
In August 2013, IPEN Co-Chair Dr. Olga Speranskaya was interviewed on the Russian national television program "Doctor I" about hazardous chemicals in products, mainly in children's toys.
