With a strong REACH for a healthy future

Women and their families are exposed to man-made chemicals everywhere and on a daily basis. This happens without our knowledge or consent because most of these chemicals can be found in every day consumer goods such as cleaning products, clothing, cosmetics, furniture and toys. They are added to products for technological reasons as they prevent computers from catching fire, make nail polish dry faster and paint non-drip. Unfortunately, many of those substances have shown to be dangerous to human health and the environment. Synthetic chemicals have not only been detected in human blood. They also pollute rivers, lakes, sees and wildlife. To us, an unacceptable circumstance. Chemicals that are dangerous to human health and the environment need to be replaced by safer alternatives.

More than 100.000 chemicals are marketed in the EU alone every year. European environment ministers realized the need for a stronger chemicals policy and asked the European Commission to come up with a draft for a new legislation. In 2003 the Commission presented a draft text called REACH to reform European chemicals policy. The first reading of REACH was held in 2005. This process led to a plenary vote by the European Parliament in November and the formulation of the Council’s Common Position in December of 2005. Largely due to the extensive lobbying and scare mongering of industry, the proposal has been severely weakened, in the interest of industries. In 2006 the second reading on REACH will take place, and the Council’s common position will be adopted. It is of vital importance, for our own health and safety of consumer products, that no further weakening of the proposal will take place. Most importantly, hazardous chemicals should be replaced by safer alternatives whenever they exist, and  industry must provide sufficient information to identify dangerous chemicals and safer alternatives.

In January 2006, The Irish Times published an article on the power of industrial lobbyists. Similar statements have been made earlier, in the analyses by Friends of the Earth Europe  and Corporate Europe Observatory.

WECF and women all across Europe have come out in favour of REACH  because we believe it has the potential to protect women’s health and that of future generations as well as the environment. Together we are working hard to ensure the new law will include  amendments that are vital to women in order to ensure a healthy future free from toxic pollution.

We need  your voice and your support to make sure this once in a lifetime chance is not wasted!


Working Towards A Toxic Free Future. A Call For Action!.