Memorandum of

the Paris Appeal

Environment and sustainable health

164 measures drawn up by

68 international experts

Thursday, 9 November, 2006

UNESCO, Paris

For the benefit of the peoples and governments of

the European Union Member States, of the
European Parliament, of the Council and of the
Commission.

The Paris Appeal has now been signed by many international scientific key figures and by the
Standing Committee of European Doctors (SCED) which represents all medical governing bodies
and medical organizations in the 25 EU Member States.
This Appeal underlines the relationship of cause and effect between chemical pollution and
diseases.
In order to preserve childrens health and the health of future generations, it is vital that the
European Union and all Member States consider the preservation of health and the environment
as the central issue of all public policies.
The concept of sustainable development, focused on preserving the earths resources to meet
the needs of future generations, is insufficient. We need to supplement it with the concept of
sustainable health, which aims at preserving the health of future generations. Whereas, today,
citizens and their health serve economic development, economic development must begin to
serve citizens health.
In the Memorandum of the Paris Appeal, 68 international experts propose 164 Recommendations
and Measures to implement in the field of environmental health, in order to avoid or soften the
public health crises that all EU Member States are facing and are likely to face tomorrow.
These Recommendations and Measures concern diseases mainly related to chemical pollution:
cancers, sterility, congenital malformations, obesity, diseases of the nervous system, allergies
They press for:
(1) The withdrawal of Carcinogenic, Mutagenic and Reprotoxic (CMR) chemical substances
from the market, as, for example, formaldehyde, some phthalates (DEHP), bisphenol A,
cadmium and mercury, as well as their derivatives, and consequently, the reinforcement
of the European regulatory project REACH;
(2) The withdrawal of organobrominated products from the market due to the very high
reactivity of bromine with ozone and thus, the possible worsening of the depletion of the
stratospheric ozone layer;
(3) Marketing authorization for pesticides, food additives and cosmetics following a regulatory
process comparable to the one used for medicines;
(4) The planned decrease in the use of pesticides in the agricultural field and thus, a reform
of the Common Agricultural Policy;
(5) The recovery of wastes through selective sorting and recycling in place of incineration
and co-incineration;
(6) The creation of a European Agency and a Research Institute for the Improvement of
waste management and treatment;
(7) The need to direct the 7th framework program of the European Community for Research
and technological development towards ecology and prevention of environmental
disease, and not only towards genetics and treatments;
(8) Ecology and hygiene education from the earliest age and
(9) The creation of a new medical speciality: environmental medicine.
These measures are all feasible in practice, provided we have the political willpower. Europe
must encourage industrial and agricultural reconversion through targeted legislative and financial
incentives, aimed at stimulating Research and Development (R&D), especially in the field of
green chemistry. As Europe takes into account environmental issues, it must create new jobs and
become the spearhead of a truly clean industry worldwide.

Consulted experts come from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France,
Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.

Contents
INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________________ 10
Title I- The concept of sustainable health_______________________________________ 12
CHAPTER 1: CROSS-COMPLIANCE OF HEALTH TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT _____________
CHAPTER 2: CROSS-COMPLIANCE OF HEALTH TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT __________
CHAPTER 3: RECONCILING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH _________________
CHAPTER 4: SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATIONS OF SUSTAINABLE HEALTH _____________________

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Title II- General recommendations and measures ________________________________ 15

CHAPTER 1: ENVIRONMENTAL AND SANITARY POLICY IN EUROPE. ____________________ 15
R1: Integrating health protection in public policies. ...................................................15
R2: Extending the concept of sustainable development to health..............................15
R3: Principles governing the concept of sustainable health.......................................15
R4: Revision of the European Constitutional Treaty. Priority given to environmental
protection and sustainable health..............................................................................15
CHAPTER 2: EUROPEAN LEGISLATION. ________________________________________ 16
R5: Simplifying legislation and clarifying community law. The need for a genuine
environmental health policy.......................................................................................16
R6: Marketing Authorizations. The need for an independent scientific assessment. .17
R7: Spheres of activities not covered by the European law.......................................17
CHAPTER 3: ADAPTATION OF DIRECTIVES TO NATIONAL LAW , CONTROLS AND INSPECTIONS. _ 18
R8: Adaptation of directives. The need for reinforced sanctions................................18
R9: Application of regulations, directives and decisions. The need for reinforced
control means. ..........................................................................................................18
CHAPTER 4: ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION TO THE DECISION-MAKING
PROCESS. _____________________________________________________________ 18
R10: Stepping up transparency and information when drawing up measures and
during the decision making process by European authorities....................................18
R-M11: Joint discussions between industry representatives and NGOs....................19
M12: Official recognition for NGOs............................................................................19
M13: Subsidies granted to NGOs..............................................................................19
CHAPTER 5: PARTICIPATION OF EUROPEAN CITIES AND TOWNS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
SUSTAINABLE HEALTH POLICIES WITHIN THE MEMBER STATES AND IN THE APPLICATION OF
COMMUNITY LAW IN THE FIELDS OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT. _____________________ 19
R-M14: European Charter of town councils for the protection of the environment and
health........................................................................................................................20
R15: Reinforcing penalties. Introducing penalty measures in community law............20
R-M16: Extending the polluter pays principle to health in order to guarantee the
remedying of the sanitary damage caused. Penalties in case of severe and
irreversible physical injuries. .....................................................................................21
R-M17: Applying the law uniformly in all the territories coming under the authority of
the Member States. ..................................................................................................21
R18: Sanctions for companies that do not comply with the bans on the marketing of
products....................................................................................................................21
R-M19: Reinforcing the competence of international jurisdictions and penalties
regarding health and environment, in case of trans-boundary pollutions. ..................22
A. Internalization of pollution .................................................................................22
B. Legal inadequacy of the polluter pays principle. .............................................22
Title III- Protecting children__________________________________________________ 23
CHAPTER 1 : PROTECTING PREGNANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN _______________________ 23
R20: Vulnerability of children. ...................................................................................23
A. Scientific arguments. ........................................................................................23

B. Sanitary and socioeconomic arguments. ..........................................................24

CHAPTER 2: REVISION OF TOXICOLOGICAL STANDARDS AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES TO FORBID
MARKETING AUTHORIZATION. _______________________________________________ 25
R21: Adaptation of toxicological standards to the embryo and children.....................25
R22: Cumulative toxicity and synergetic effects of chemical substances...................25
M23: Withdrawal of CMR substances from the market..............................................25
M24: Withdrawal from the market of chemical substances which transfer to the
placenta. ...................................................................................................................26
M25: Assessment of thresholds for non-CMR chemical substances. ........................26
CHAPTER 3 : HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES _______________________________ 26
M26: Measuring out of mercury in fish and seafood. .................................................26
M27: Ban on medical and cosmetic products containing mercury. ............................26
M28: Mercury ban in maternities, crches, hospitals and schools. ............................27
M29: Aldehydes and indoor air pollution. Ban on the use of formaldehyde. ..............27
M30: Ban on the use of aldehydes known to be toxic, in particular formaldehyde in
pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. ....................................................................27
M31: Phthalates and medical plastics. Ban on the use of DEHP...............................27
CHAPTER 4 : PESTICIDES, FOOD ADDITIVES AND DIET. _____________________________ 28
R32: Family policy and decrease in pollution due to reprotoxic substances. .............28
R33: Stepping up criteria regarding the marketing of pesticides. Revision of directive
91/414/EEC. .............................................................................................................29
M34: Infant foods using organic farming produce......................................................30
M35: Newborns and food additives. ..........................................................................30
CHAPTER 5 : OBESITY, CANCERS, ALLERGIES ___________________________________ 30
R-M36: Overweight and obesity in children...............................................................30
M37: Organic foods in school cafeterias. ..................................................................31
R38: Childhood cancers. Location of new schools. ...................................................31
R39: Childhood cancers and high voltage powerlines. ..............................................31
R40: Portable and cordless phones. .........................................................................31
R41: Allergy management.........................................................................................32
Title IV- Marketing of chemical substances _____________________________________ 34
CHAPTER 1 : THE SUBSTITUTION PRINCIPLE AND REACH REGULATION ________________ 34
R42: REACH Regulation...........................................................................................34
R43: Obligation to use substitute products when they are not as hazardous.............34
M44: Withdrawal of CMR substances from the market..............................................35
R-M45: Regulation regarding CMR substances which have not been withdrawn from
the market, because there is no substitute and these substances are considered
essential. ..................................................................................................................35
R46: Traceability and labeling of hazardous substances...........................................35
CHAPTER 2 : RECONVERSION OF THE INDUSTRY AND GREEN CHEMISTRY _______________ 36
R47: Reconversion aid for the chemical industry. .....................................................36
M48: Financial incentives to market clean products. .................................................36
R49: Development of Green Chemistry.....................................................................36
CHAPTER 3 : HAZARDOUS TOXIC SUBSTANCES TO BE WITHDRAWN FROM THE MARKET AS A
PRIORITY ______________________________________________________________ 37
M50: Aldehydes. .......................................................................................................37
M51: Phthalates........................................................................................................37
M52: Glycol ethers....................................................................................................38
M53: Bisphenol A......................................................................................................39
M54: Mercury............................................................................................................39
M55: Bromine and its derivatives. .............................................................................40
CHAPTER 4 : REGULATION ON TOXIC PRODUCTS _________________________________ 40
M56: Paints and coatings..........................................................................................40
M57: Lead paints. .....................................................................................................40

R-M58: Treatment of indoor wood.............................................................................41

R-M59: Brominated flame-retardants. .......................................................................42
R-M60: Electrical and electronic appliances..............................................................43
R-M61: Ban on brominated products. .......................................................................43
R-M62: Cosmetic products........................................................................................44
R63: Commonly used products.................................................................................44
R64: Taxation of non recyclable products and packaging. ........................................45
CHAPTER 5 : FOODSTUFF REGULATION. _______________________________________ 45
R-M65: Nutritional quality of foods. ...........................................................................45
R-M66: Packaging of foodstuffs. ...............................................................................46
R67: Advertising and labeling of foodstuffs. ..............................................................47
R68: Nutritional allegations. ......................................................................................47
R-M69: Food additives. Revision of directive 89/107/EEC in the form of a regulation.
.................................................................................................................................47
R-M70: Plant-protection products, pesticides. Revision of directive 91/414/EEC in the
form of a regulation. ..................................................................................................48
R-M71: Ban on the marketing and use of imidaclopride and fipronil..........................49
M72: Remedying the loss related to imidaclopride and fipronil..................................50
R-M73: Pesticide residue in foods. New procedures for the marketing authorization of
pesticides..................................................................................................................50
M74: Applicability of the new marketing procedures for pesticides............................51
M75: Sanctions regarding the use of prohibited pesticides or the non-compliance to
authorized doses. .....................................................................................................51
Title V- Air, water and soil pollution ___________________________________________ 52
CHAPTER 1: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT AIR POLLUTION _____________________ 52
CHAPTER 2: OUTDOOR AIR POLLUTION ________________________________________ 53
2.1 Atmospheric dust __________________________________________________ 53
R-M76: Particles PM 2.5 and PM 10. The inadequacy of the CAFE directive
proposal....................................................................................................................53
2.2 Road, air and maritime traffic _________________________________________ 54
M77: Electrification of public transport. .....................................................................54
R-M78: Reduction of city road traffic. ........................................................................54
R-M79: Standards on engine- and exhaust-related pollution.....................................55
R-M80: Regulatory standards on diesel engine particulate emissions.......................55
M81: Cutting down sulfur contents in fuels................................................................56
M82: Decrease in the benzene content of gasoline...................................................56
R-M83: Non-road mobile machinery running in confined spaces. .............................56
R-M84: Diesel engine control....................................................................................56
2.3: Industrial pollution _________________________________________________ 57
R-M85: Regulatory compliance of industrial activities. ..............................................57
R-M86: Revision of directive 96/61/EC in the form of a regulation.............................57
R-M87: Industrial emissions of dust, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides....................57
R-M88: Trans-boundary pollution. Limit values for emissions (LVE) for pollutants in
the air. Inadequacy of the CAFE directive proposal. ...............................................58
R-M89: National thresholds for emissions of atmospheric pollutants.........................59
CHAPTER 3: STRATOSPHERIC OZONE DEPLETION DUE TO VOLATILE CHLORINATED AND
BROMINATED SUBSTANCES _________________________________________________ 59
R-M90: Chlorinated and brominated products. Chlorine and bromine emissions in the
atmosphere...............................................................................................................60
CHAPTER 4: INDOOR AIR POLLUTION __________________________________________ 60
R-M91: The right to healthy indoor air.......................................................................61
M92: Passive smoking. .............................................................................................61
R-M93: Indoor air pollution........................................................................................62
R-M94: On-site sampling and green ambulances. ..................................................62

R-M95: Traceability and labeling of raw materials, furniture and indoor products......62
M96: Ban on materials, furniture and indoor products discharging toxic volatile
substances. ..............................................................................................................62
M97: Additional regulation regarding asbestos..........................................................62
M98: Terms of the removal of asbestos. Ban on the removal of asbestos carried out
in non-EU countries. .................................................................................................63
M99: Chimney sweeping of boilers containing asbestos and containment of asbestos
sheets.......................................................................................................................63
R-M100: Indemnification of asbestos victims and criminal sentences. ......................64
R-M101: Substitutes for asbestos. ............................................................................64
R-M102: Sanitary warning regarding pollution with nanoparticles released from
nanomaterials used in nanotechnologies. .................................................................64
R-M103: Radon. .......................................................................................................65
R-M104: Measurement of radon in water. .................................................................65
R-M105: Indoor air renewal and thermal insulation. ..................................................65
CHAPTER 5 : GENERALITY ON WATER AND SOIL POLLUTION _________________________ 66
R-M106: Water pollution. Stepping up framework directive 2000/60/EC. ..................66
R-M107: Soil pollution...............................................................................................66
CHAPTER 6 : USE OF NITRATES AND PESTICIDES, AND REFORM OF THE COMMON
AGRICULTURAL POLICY. ___________________________________________________ 67
R-M108: Decrease in the agricultural use of nitrates. Stepping up directive
91/676/EEC in the form of a regulation. ....................................................................67
M109: Ban on the use of fertilizers rich in cadmium. .................................................68
M110: Inspections, controls and sanctions regarding the agricultural use of
pesticides..................................................................................................................68
M111: Regulation on good agricultural practices.......................................................68
M112: Inventory regarding the use of pesticides in the Union. ..................................69
M113: Ban on the spraying of pesticides with non controlled means.........................69
M114: Plan for a programmed reduction of pesticide use. ........................................69
M115: Certification of pesticide retailers and users. ..................................................70
M116: Ban on the use of pesticides in areas of water harnessing and other wetlands.
.................................................................................................................................70
M117: Increased support for organic farming in water harnessing areas and other
wetlands. ..................................................................................................................70
M118: Ban on the use of pesticides in public areas. .................................................70
R-M119: Revision of the Common Agricultural Policy. ..............................................70
M120: Taxation of agricultural chemical inputs..........................................................72
M121: Subsidies to institutional/school catering. .......................................................72
M122: Subsidies to organic farming. .........................................................................73
R-M123: Stepping up organic farming. Revision of the regulation proposal planned in
place of Regulation (EEC) N2092/91................ .......................................................74
M124: Ban on the export of pesticides banned on the European market to other
countries. ..................................................................................................................74
M125: Ban on the export of produce for which farmers were subsidized...................74
M126: Quality labels : Regulation on pesticide use. ..................................................75
M127: Ban on open-field GMOs crops, taxation of imported GMOs intended for
animal feed and fraud repression..............................................................................75
CHAPTER 7 : ANALYSES AND TREATMENT OF SEWAGE SLUDGE ______________________ 76
R-M128: Decrease in the use of sewage sludge in agriculture. Revision of directive
86/278/EEC. .............................................................................................................76
M129: Stepping up of the terms of the ban on the spreading of sewage sludge........76
M130: Sewage sludge and incineration. ...................................................................77
R-M131: Treatment of sewage sludge. .....................................................................77
CHAPTER 8: MERCURY POLLUTION ___________________________________________ 77
M132: Mercury limit values for emissions..................................................................77

M133: Extension of mercury limit values for emissions (LVEs) to any coal combustion
facility. Revision of directives 96/61/EC and 2001/80/EC. .........................................78
M134: Extension of limit values for emissions to all sectors of the industry. ..............78
M135: Chlorine and soda industry: gradual dismantling of mercury cell electrolysis..78
M136: Ban on the marketing of products containing mercury. Revision of directive
76/769/EEC. .............................................................................................................78
M137: Ban on mercury imports and exports..............................................................78
M138: Tracing of products in trade............................................................................79
M139: Ban on the use of mercury in gold washing....................................................79
CHAPTER 9: W ASTE MANAGEMENT AND TREATMENT ______________________________ 79
R-M140: Waste management General strategy. ....................................................80
R-M141: Cutting back on waste production at source. Lifecycle of products on the
market. .....................................................................................................................80
M142: Waste management and treatment cost.........................................................81
R-M143: Waste sorting with a view to recovery through selective sorting and
recycling. ..................................................................................................................81
R-M144: Waste recovery through selective sorting and recycling. Revision of directive
2000/76/EC...............................................................................................................82
M145: Ban on the building of any new incinerator and on any new authorization of coincineration. ..............................................................................................................83
M146: Ban on the incineration or co-incineration of hazardous wastes. ....................84
R-M147: Specific treatments and recovery of hazardous wastes. .............................84
R-M148: Dumping of waste and protected storage. ..................................................84
R-M149: Location of the management and treatment of urban and industrial waste. 84
R-M150: Creation of a European Agency for waste management and treatment. .....85
R-M151: Creation of a European Research Institute on waste management and
treatment. .................................................................................................................85
Title VI- Information, education, training, social equality ___________________________ 86
R-M152: Information. Stepping up participative democracy. .....................................86
R-M156: Social equality Righting wrongs...............................................................87
Appendix 1 : Paris Appeal, an international declaration on disease due to chemical pollution
_______________________________________________________________________ 92
Appendix 2 : Signatories of the Paris Appeal ____________________________________ 96
Appendix 3 : Drafting the Memorandum________________________________________ 97
Appendix 4 : Mortality rate per 100.000 individuals (U.S.A.) - Source : Center for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) _______________________________________________ 98

INTRODUCTION
The Paris Appeal was proclaimed on May 7, 2004, during the Colloquium on Cancer,
Health, Environment at UNESCO, in Paris (Appendix 1). This Appeal is an international
scientific declaration regarding the sanitary dangers of chemical pollution.
Up to 9 November 2006, the Paris Appeal has now been signed by over a thousand
scientists worldwide, including several Nobel Prize winners, by 1,500 international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and by about 250,000 European citizens. The Standing
Committee of European Doctors, which represents all medical governing bodies and
medical doctors organizations in the 25 Member States and two million doctors (Appendix
II), has also signed it. The target is to collect, in Europe, one million signatures as quickly as
possible.
The Paris Appeal states in its three articles that:
Article 1: The development of numerous current diseases is a result of the deterioration of
the environment.
Article 2: Chemical pollution represents a serious threat to children and to Man's survival.
Article 3: As our own health, that of our children and future generations, is under threat,
the Human race itself is in serious danger.
Considering the threats that hang over mankind, the Appeal underlines the states liability in
the development of these threats and suggests 7 categories of measures based on
implementing the (1) principles of prevention, (2) precaution, (3) correction at source of
environmental damage, as a priority, and (4) substitution, regarding marketing of toxic
products.
To the four principles on which the Appeal is based, we need to add the (5) polluter pays
principle, at the legal level.
The present document aims at formalizing precisely Recommendations (R) and technical
Measures (M) that fall within the 7 categories of Measures proposed by the Paris Appeal and
at devising ways to implement them.
Recommendations and measures were elaborated from scientific considerations established
and/or reviewed by a panel of international experts (Appendix III) who worked in close
collaboration with many NGOs.
The field of environmental health is analyzed considering the current effects of chemical
pollution. Sanitary effects related to the loss of biodiversity, energetic issues and climatic
change due to the growing greenhouse effect will not be discussed. However, several
measures concern more specifically radiation pollution, due to it links with chemical pollution
and its harmful effects on health.
This memorandum is intended for the 192 states on this planet, and more particularly, the 25
Member States of the European Union.
In this field, Europe should set an example of scientific rigor, of political determination and,
owing to its cultural past, should be one of the essential ferments in a new awareness.
The memorandum takes into account the major guidelines stated in the Sixth Environment
Action Program, stemming from Decision 1600/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of

10

the Council. This scheme aims at dissociating environmental pressure from economic
growth, while meeting the principle of subsidiarity, as well as the diversity of situations, in the
different regions of the European Union.
To achieve this target, the sixth environment action program is based, as stated in its article
2, on the polluter pays principle, the precautionary and preventive action principles, and the
principle of correction of pollution as a priority at source. Moreover, the necessity for an
integrated strategic approach is emphasized, bringing about changes in the production and
consumption modes in the private and public sectors that have a negative impact on the
state of the environment and its evolution.
UNFORTUNATELY, AT MID-TERM OF THE SIXTH ENVIRONMENT ACTION PROGRAM11
LAUNCHED ON 22 JULY 2002, WE HAVE TO SAY ITS IMPLEMENTATION HAS
ENTIRELY OR PARTIALLY FAILED.
Because it offers practical solutions in the field of environmental health and solutions to
technical problems, the present memorandum addresses more specifically European
authorities (Commission, Council and Parliament) and political and administrative key figures
in each of the 25 Member States in the Union.
We, scientists, doctors, jurists, humanists, citizens, signatories of the Paris Appeal,
convinced of the urgency and seriousness of the situation at hand, call upon
European authorities, and more particularly the Commission, Council and Parliament,
to comply with the Recommendations of this memorandum and to take the Measures
mentioned herein, which were freely and independently drawn up by a panel of
scientific experts.

The Sixth Community Action Program for the Environment was implemented from 22 July 2002.

11

Title I- The concept of sustainable health

Chapter 1: Cross-compliance of health to a healthy environment
According to the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) of April 7 1948:
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity.
According to article 25 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of December 10
1948:
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of
himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary
social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability,
widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
According to Principle 1 of the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the
Human Environment, also known as the Stockholm Declaration of June 16 1972:
Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an
environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn
responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations.
Cross-compliance of health to a healthy environment is taken up by the Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development Principle 1:
Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled
to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.
This need for living in a healthy environment is also registered by the Convention of the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe of June 25 1998 on access to information,
public participation on decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters also
known as the Aarhus Convention of 25 June 1998 - article 1 : In order to contribute to the
protection of the right of every person of present and future generations to live in an
environment adequate to his or her health and well-being, each Party shall guarantee the
rights of access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice
in environmental matters in accordance with the provisions of this Convention.
Consequently, any state of well-being does not only rely on actual sanitary measures, but
also on more general, in particular legal, measures involving the whole community that
include the preservation of a healthy environment which is seen more and more as global
public good -, the preservation of biodiversity, climate stability, water and energy supplies,
fair distribution of resources and social assistance.

Chapter 2: Cross-compliance of health to sustainable development

To this, we must add cross-compliance of health to sustainable development.
The Brundtland Report, August 4 1987, of the World Commission on Environment and
Development Our Common Future provides us with the following definition:

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Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it
two key concepts: the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the worlds
poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the
state of technology and social organization on the environments ability to meet present and
future needs.
This notion is taken up by the United Nations Conference on the Environment and
Development, in principle 4 of the Rio Declaration of June 13 1992, which integrates
protection of the environment in the development process.
In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute and
integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it.
Furthermore, article 1, chapter 6 Protecting and promoting human health , Agenda 21 of
this Conference, highlights the tight bond between health and development. Health is
discussed from the viewpoint of poverty, basic sanitary needs and hygiene for developing
countries, of excessive consumption in rich countries and globally, of demographic growth in
the world, but not from the specific viewpoint of sanitary consequences of environmental
pollution : Both insufficient development leading to poverty and inappropriate development
resulting in over-consumption, coupled with an expanding world population, can result in
severe environmental health problems in both developing and developed nations. Action
items under Agenda 21 must address the primary health needs of the world's population,
since they are integral to the achievement of the goals of sustainable development and
primary environmental care.
Article 53, Chapter VI: Health and sustainable Development in the United Nations Report
on the World Summit in Johannesburg (August 26 September 4 2002) goes even
further and focuses its resolution on sanitary issues, but always within the perspective of
contributing to sustainable development.
The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development states that human beings are at the
centre of concerns for sustainable development, and that they are entitled to a healthy and
productive life, in harmony with nature. The goals of sustainable development can only be
achieved in the absence of a high prevalence of debilitating diseases, while obtaining health
gains for the whole population requires poverty eradication. There is an urgent need to
address the causes of ill health, including environmental causes, and their impact on
development, with particular emphasis on women and children, as well as vulnerable groups
of society, such as people with disabilities, elderly persons and indigenous people.

Chapter 3: Reconciling sustainable development and health

The main issue facing mankind today is to reconcile sustainable development and health.
None of the previously mentioned declarations contemplates the possibility of the adverse
consequences on health of excessive economic development, and more particularly, does
not contemplate, as specified in the Paris Appeal, the existence of diseases induced by
environmental chemical pollution.
Thus, on no account, does sustainable development consider explicitly the consequences of
environmental pollution on health, in particular the risks of diseases induced by chemical
pollution.
Likewise, on no account, does sustainable development consider, as specified in the Paris
Appeal, the threat to populations survival in case of irreversible damages to the
environment.
In international official documents, indeed, it clearly appears that populations health is
absolutely essential to economic development and not the opposite, i.e. that economic

13

development should serve populations well-being. Yet, the consequences of chemical

pollution, whatever its forms, and provided one includes, as underlined in the Paris Appeal,
biodiversity loss and climatic changes due to the greenhouse effect, constitute the most
serious dangers threatening mankind.
In accordance with WHOs definition of health and considering the three articles of the
Paris Appeal, the Memorandum extends the concept of sustainable development to
that of sustainable Health, which is defined as the perpetuation of future generations
health in a state comparable, at least, to todays health, and the future survival of all
the peoples on this planet.
THE CONCEPT OF HEALTH OVER THAT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ORDER
TO ACHIEVE THE TARGET OF DURABILITY.

Chapter 4: Scientific foundations of sustainable health

The present document concerns damage to health directly caused by current chemical
pollution, without any reference to damage related to biodiversity loss or to loss caused by
climatic changes.
Under these conditions, the concept of sustainable health uses three primordial scientific
considerations, set forth in the Paris Appeal.
CS1. Susceptibility of the embryo and fetus. The extreme susceptibility to chemical
products of the embryo and fetus during pregnancy and after birth, that of the child up to 8
years old at least, and consequently, their acute sanitary vulnerability.
CS2. Absence of threshold dose. The absence of threshold dose for any chemical
substance involved in the onset of diseases related to chronic toxicity. In case of chronic
toxicity, it is not the intensity of the dose that is poisonous, but its repetition, and thus the
exposure time of the body to the chemical substance. Therefore, low, and even
infinitesimal, doses of toxic substances, provided they are repeated over a long enough
period of time, may induce diseases by chronic toxicity. This implies that current
regulations, though they protect the body against the onset of acute toxicity, do not protect
it against the onset of chronic toxicity-related diseases, in case of repeated doses over a
prolonged exposure time.
CS3. Cocktail effects and negativity of epidemiological studies. Considering the
diffuse, multiform and persistent nature of environmental chemical pollution and the
possibility of cocktail effects related to interaction of different chemical substances inside
or outside the body, and consequently, the possibility of synergic pathological effects, the
existence of negative epidemiological studies (i.e. that have not shown a statistically
significant discrepancy between tests subjects and control subjects) does not mean the
absence of risk.
THE FACT THAT THERE ARE NEGATIVE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES DOES NOT
THEREFORE CONSTITUTE A PROOF THAT THERE ARE NO RISKS.
And this all the more when experimental toxicological arguments exist that causally link a
substance at issue in the onset of biological and/or pathological side effects.
The present document is based on these three primordial scientific considerations and,
consequently, on implementing the precautionary principle.

14

Title II- General recommendations and measures

Chapter 1: Environmental and sanitary policy in Europe.
R1: Integrating health protection in public policies.
In accordance with articles 6 and 152 of the Treaty instituting the European Community, also
known as the Rome Treaty, of 25 March 1957, both health and the environment are part of
the definition and implementation of the Communitys policies and actions, within the
framework of a global awareness process regarding worldwide ecology and populations
health. Integrating the environment in public policies, as a principle, and as it was formulated
during the Rio Conference and reasserted in the final declaration of the summit on
sustainable development in Johannesburg, must be a keystone to implement any policy.
Integrating health protection in public policies must be established as a principle.
Preserving the environment and health must be a central issue in all EU policies, and
beyond that, in all countries on this planet.
R2: Extending the concept of sustainable development to health.
The concept of sustainable development, as considered in the Brundtland Report (4 August
1987) of the World Commission on Environment and Development, as designed in the Rio
Declaration of 13 June 1992, and in the United Nations report on the Johannesburg Summit
(26 August 4 September 2002), is insufficient, as it does not explicitly refer to the need to
preserve health, as a priority and in a sustainable way, by fighting against environmental
pollution to preserve sustainable development.
It is imperative that the concept of sustainable development be associated with that of
sustainable health.

R3: Principles governing the concept of sustainable health.

In accordance with article 174, paragraph 2, of the Rome Treaty, instituting the European
Community, with the recommendation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) [C(72)128] of 26 May 1972, with principle 15 of the Rio Declaration of
13 June 1992, and with article 1 of the Carthage Protocol of 29 January 2000,
the four principles on which the concept of sustainable health is based are as follows:
the prevention principle, when the risk factor inducing the disease is known ; the
precautionary principle, when it is unknown, but assessed as serious and irreversible;
the correction principle as a priority at the source of environmental damage ; and the
polluter pays principle.

R4: Revision of the European Constitutional Treaty. Priority given to environmental

protection and sustainable health.
In its form non ratified by France and the Netherlands, the European Constitutional Treaty of
16 December 2004, included precise provisions relating to health only in article III-278 and
relating to the environment only in articles III-233 and III-234, which is highly inadequate,
considering the stakes of sustainable health and their integrated links with the environment.
Therefore, effective implementation of the four principles mentioned above must be
reinforced when considering the market, competition and requirements stemming from the
development of a common market.
PRESERVATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE HEALTH ARE THE
FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS BASED ON WHICH ANY ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL

15

POLICY MUST DEFINE AND BUILD ITSELF, REFERRING TO SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT.
Consequently, any provision regarding the European social and economic development must
be subject to the preservation of the environment and health.
Environmental and sanitary considerations will need to be included, as a priority and
in an effective way, in the future European Constitutional Treaty. They should not rely
on economic and financial necessities, as recommended in the non ratified version of
the Constitutional Treaty, but must establish the terms on which any social and
economic policy may be implemented. Man lives on Natures terms : mans actions do
not determine the laws of Nature.

Chapter 2: European legislation.

R5: Simplifying legislation and clarifying community law. The need for a genuine
environmental health policy.
In accordance with the institutional provisions of the treaty instituting the European
Community, the European Commission and the Council draw up laws, called directives,
which are submitted to parliamentary vote, or else regulations, decisions, recommendations
or opinions. Indeed, as things stand at present, the European Commission, the Council or
the European Parliament have drawn up, since the creation of the European Union, so many
laws relating to health and the environment in particular that it has become practically
impossible to know them all and, more importantly, to implement them. To illustrate this, let
us consider the five following fields, as an example :
- Dangerous substances: Council directive 67/548/CEE, of 27 June 1967, on the
approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification,
packaging and labeling of dangerous substances, was modified 42 times. Council directive
76/769/CEE of 27 July 1976, on the approximation of the laws, regulations and
administrative provisions of the Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing and
use of certain dangerous substances and preparations, was modified 50 times. To these two
directives, 14 laws of the Commission were added, modifying one or the other, or modifying
other directives, often to open the way to dispensations ; 12 other specific Commission or
Council directives, some of them having been themselves modified several times, and a
resolution and a regulation of the Council.
- Common Agricultural Policy: the Common Agricultural Policy laid down by article 32 of
the Rome Treaty instituting the European Community is governed by 46 regulations or
decisions, which has rightly brought the Commission to harmonize all laws and to simplify
procedures.
- Plant-protection products: Up to 9 November 2006, there have been 26 directives on
pesticides. They have been modified several times since their adoption. For example,
Council directive 91/414/CE of 15 July 1991, on the placing of plant protection products on
the market, has been corrected, since its passing, by 43 other directives, and this, not to
mention the dispensations granted to certain Member States.
- Cosmetic products: Council directive 76/768/CEE of 27 July 1976, on the approximation
of the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic products, was modified and
supplemented by 7 directives that modify the law and 36 directives that modify the
appendixes.

16

- Food additives: Since the first Commission directive 81/712/EEC, dated 28 July 1981,
laying down community methods of analysis for verifying that certain additives used in
foodstuffs satisfy purity criteria, 35 other laws have been drawn up by the Commission and
the Council, (13 directives have been drawn up, which in turn have been modified by 12
other directives, whereas 10 implementing directives have been added to Council directive
89/107/CEE of 21 December 1988) as well as a Council regulation.
To this, we need to add the fact that certain directives, such as Directive 2000/60/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000, establishing a framework for
Community action in the field of water policy, are extremely complex in their wording, often
incomplete and even inaccurate at times, from a scientific viewpoint. These directives are
consequently not only difficult to transfer to national laws, and thus difficult to apply
practically, but also very difficult to interpret, from a legal viewpoint.
It is clear that the vast number and the complexity of directives, regulations or decisions,
coming from European institutions, only serves to prove the continuous need to adapt
Community legislation to new scientific knowledge. The very high number of laws actually
shows how the Member States, as well as industrial and economic sectors within the Union,
influence and put pressure on Europe and in the end, how badly a genuine European policy
in the fields of health and environment is required.
IN FACT, THE VAST NUMBER AND COMPLEXITY OF LAWS PROMULGATED BY THE
EUROPEAN UNION HIGHLIGHT THE LACK OF A GENUINE EUROPEAN POLICY IN
THE FIELDS OF HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT.
In order for European citizens to have a better understanding of EU laws and for EU
Member States to implement them properly, the Commission, the Council and the
European Parliament must reduce the number of laws they draw up, simplify their
wording, adapt them to current scientific knowledge based on strictly independent
experts and limit the number of dispensations and exemptions that are likely to be
granted under the influence of a person or organization.

R6: Marketing Authorizations. The need for an independent scientific assessment.

As underlined by the Ecological council 2, European law relating to human health and the
environment on the marketing of toxic chemical substances is inadequate. Commission
directive 93/67/EEC of 20 July 1993, laying down the principles of assessment of risks to
man and the environment of chemical substances, in accordance with Council directive
67/548/EEC, planned in 1993 to assess the noxiousness of 141 substances out of the
thousands of molecules on the market. Yet, only 70 have been assessed. Among those, 57
need to be submitted to a more stringent regulation. Yet, only 11 of them have been so far.
The European Union must apply stricter rules in granting product licenses and must
issue them only after an accurate and independent scientific assessment of the
chemical substances they contain. It must find ways to assess scientifically products
that are already on the market, as quickly as possible. It must set up a completely
independent assessment organization (refer to Title IV).

R7: Spheres of activities not covered by the European law.

Many spheres of activity, such as paints, toxic permeation of public or private buildings by
pollutants, magnetic waves, artificial ultraviolet rays, radioactivity, etc, which are potentially
the cause of many diseases, have not been included in any European directive, or
regulation, or have not been updated.

The ecological council, Hazardous Chemicals can be substituted: www.ecocouncil.dk/download/subst_uk.pdf

17

The Commission, the Parliament and the Council must propose measures regarding
spheres of activity that are currently partially covered or not covered at all and, in
compliance with the precautionary principle, take more stringent measures in the
environmental fields that are considered as essential to health.

Chapter 3: Adaptation of directives to national law, controls and

inspections.
R8: Adaptation of directives. The need for reinforced sanctions.
Several experts who signed the Paris Appeal have pointed out that there has been no
adaptation of several Member States national law to many European directives or that
adaptation was vague and unclear and that, consequently, even with adaptation, European
directives were not implemented or could even be circumvented. This is notably the case of
certain plant-protection products banned in Europe, due to their toxicity,
that are
nevertheless still used in certain EU countries.
The Member States must translate European directives into understandable laws,
conveying clearly their content in order to be applicable and implemented in a
practical way, as quickly as possible. They must clearly inform the concerned
organizations and individuals and enforce these laws through inspections and
checks. Member States must enforce all the laws of the Union within the allotted time.

R9: Application of regulations, directives and decisions. The need for reinforced
control means.
Several experts who have signed the Paris Appeal show that organizations, companies or
private individuals repeatedly breach regulations in several EU Member States, due to the
absence of controls and inspections aimed at checking on site whether the practices of these
organizations, companies or private individuals were in compliance with the European
legislation.
The Member States must make sure that the European legislation is strictly enforced
within their countries, and European authorities must make sure that the Member
States enforce it. The Commission must control the Member States more stringently
and frequently and must also carry out regular on-site inspections to check that
organizations, companies and private individuals comply with the law. WITHOUT ANY
STRICT COMPLIANCE TO THE EUROPEAN LEGISLATION AND LAWS, THERE CAN BE
NO EUROPEAN CONSTRUCTION. The Commission must obtain suitable and efficient
control and inspection means.

Chapter 4: Access to information and public participation to the

decision-making process.
R10: Stepping up transparency and information when drawing up measures and
during the decision making process by European authorities.
The application of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention of 25 June 1980, on access to
information, public participation in Decision-making and access to Justice in environmental
matters to Community institutions and bodies, is stated in Regulation (EC) 1367/2006 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006. This regulation intended for
EU institutions and bodies should be applied from 28 June 2007. And yet, this regulation is,
as it stands, insufficient. It will not solve the consultation issues in elaborating measures and

18

decision-making by EU institutions and bodies, nor will it solve the issue of the nature of the
contents of these measures and decision-making. Moreover, it will not solve the lack of
communication and circulation of information between these institutions and bodies and the
peoples of the different EU Member States. Indeed, the measures taken by the European
Union are proposed by the Commission or by the Parliament and the Council, and are
submitted to the vote of the Parliament. Yet, these measures are often decided in the context
of contradictory influences between representatives of the industry or agriculture, on one
hand, and representatives of associations or NGOs acting as representatives of the civil
society, without any other status than that of non-profit organizations. This results in
decisions not always being made in favor of public sanitary and environmental safety in the
Union and in decisions often made without consulting the public or informing it regularly.
EUROPE SUFFERS TODAY FROM A LACK OF TRANSPARENCY.
The European Union must reinforce transparency in elaborating measures and in
decision-making and must reinforce, prior to its decision-making system, the
democratic processes, in order for a suitably representative civil society to take part
effectively in the decision-making process, and following the decision-making, in
order for the peoples in the Union, not only to be regularly informed, but also to be
officially consulted more frequently on main issues regarding specifically
preservation of environment and health.

R-M11: Joint discussions between industry representatives and NGOs.

Elaborating measures and making decisions often mean challenging contradictory interests
between, on one hand, companies and, on the other hand, socially-aware organizations that
represent the different peoples.
The European Union must institutionalize joint discussions, not only between industry
representatives and unions, but also between industry representatives and NGOs,
who very often represent, in the fields of environment and health, the true desires of
civil society and the different peoples in the Union.

M12: Official recognition for NGOs.

Recognizing NGOs as a party to discussions needs to be based on strict criteria, involving
their nondenominational and non political nature, as well as their complete independence,
including in terms of finance, towards the industry.
The European Union must recognize NGOs as official partners in joint discussions,
accept their recommendations, in the same way as recommendations coming from
companies, and therefore subsidize them as unions are subsidized by companies.

M13: Subsidies granted to NGOs.

In return for actions and service rendered by NGOs, the European Union must
subsidize them without these hindering their independence. European Union
subsidies must be granted, first and foremost, to NGOs that act in favor of
environment preservation and sustainable health, be financially adequate and
concern, as a priority, jobs within these structures.

Chapter 5: Participation of European cities and towns in the

implementation of sustainable health policies within the Member
19

States and in the application of Community law in the fields of

health and environment.
R-M14: European Charter of town councils for the protection of the environment and
health.
European towns and cities already play a major role in the field of environmental and health
initiatives, and will play a more and more significant role in the implementation of policies in
both fields and in the application of Community law. Town and city mayors in different
Member States of the Union have already taken a stand, through the Athens Declaration
for Healthy Cities3, 1998 WHO, on the fundamental principles on which health and viable
development in cities and urban areas are based, and have adhered to the Charter of
European towns and cities towards sustainability, called the Aalborg Charter.
However, there is no doubt that we need to go further on in the harmonization of measures
and their practical application, and that we need to link health to environment in the
framework of the concept of sustainable health.
Thus, town and city mayors of the EU Member States and beyond, all European towns, must
join forces and unite to issue a new joint charter, comprising practical measures to fight more
effectively different types of pollution and protect citizens health, within the framework of the
concept of sustainable health. Therefore, practical measures, such protecting water supplies,
reducing motorized urban traffic, electrifying public transport, energy savings, laying out
green areas and pedestrian streets, constructing residential buildings based on a new urban
architecture which takes into account ecological and energetic requirements, building
schools in secured areas, fighting indoor and outdoor pollution, as well as noise, banning the
use of pesticides fir weeding, introducing organic foods in school catering, managing and
treating rationally urban wastes, should be proposed jointly.
Town and city mayors of the different Member States in Europe must join forces and
unite to issue a joint charter in order to fight, more effectively and in a standardized
way, environmental pollution and to preserve, in a sustainable way, their citizens
health, within the framework of the European law in force.

R15: Reinforcing penalties. Introducing penalty measures in community law.

Although, according to the 22nd annual Report from the Commission on monitoring the
application of Community law [Com(2005) 570], the number of complaints relating to
breaches of the law admitted by the European Commission seems to have decreased over
the last years, it remains relatively high in some sectors, such as water pollution, emptying of
fuel tanks at sea, waste management and, consequently, sustainable health.
The order of 13 September 2005 (C-176/03 Commission versus Council) reasserts the
competence of the European Community in adopting criminal measures to guarantee the
effectiveness of community law. It is therefore within the competence of the European
Community to make it compulsory for Member States to make provision for criminal charges
in order to protect the environment.
When regulations, decisions or directives are not applied or are delayed in their
implementation, the European Union must enforce stringent coercive measures by
way of reinforced sanctions and fines for Member States or private individuals that do
not comply. It must reinforce EU laws on the environment and health, and be equipped
with the required tools to enforce them practically, in real time. It must introduce
criminal measures in Community law, increase the prerogatives of the European

Athens Declaration for Healthy Cities, 23 June 1998, within the framework of the Healthy city Program launched
by WHO.

20

Communities Court of Justice and, as suggested by some EU countries, strengthen

judicial and police cooperation, in order to fight serious and potentially irreversible
breaches to the environment and health.

R-M16: Extending the polluter pays principle to health in order to guarantee the
remedying of the sanitary damage caused. Penalties in case of severe and irreversible
physical injuries.
As underlined in the Paris Appeal, environment and health are causally linked: any
modification of the environment, in particular any pollution, may be the cause of diseases.
The polluter pays principle is part of several international documents, including the treaty
instituting the European Community (article 174 2), and stated in several directives.
Directive 2004/35/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on the
environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental
damage, deals with environmental damage itself, without contemplating sanitary damage
caused by pollution or by environmental damage itself. This is an important loophole in the
European law regarding the enforcement of the polluter pays principle. This loophole is
detrimental to the citizens of the different Member States in the Union who, when they are
the victims of these pollutions, have no other course of action left to them but to associate in
a court action with the public prosecutor in their country, after having formed an association
of victims, and in case of non-remedying, to appeal to the European Communities Court of
Justice.
The polluter pays principle must be applied to environmental sanitary breaches, as
it applies to environmental damage or breaches themselves. The European Union
must legislate on the sanitary breaches caused by pollution or by environmental
damage that derives from them, with a specific law. When severe and irreversible
physical injuries are involved, penalties must fall within the province of criminal law.

R-M17: Applying the law uniformly in all the territories coming under the authority of
the Member States.
In some French overseas territories, the use of plant-protection products, though banned in
the European Union, was still tolerated.
For reasons of equity, EU Member States must make sure that European directives are
fully applied in their territories located outside Europe. Moreover, it would be
preferable that these territories, when they are an integral part of a Member State,
really benefit from the same advantages and obligations as each of the Member States
in the Union.

R18: Sanctions for companies that do not comply with the bans on the marketing of
products.
Any company having its headquarters within the European Union that imports or exports
products banned from the EU market must be very severely sanctioned.
The European Union must take great care in making sure that Community law is
enforced and in making sure the Member States sanction very severely any infraction
regarding the import or export of products banned from the market. Should the
Member States fail to meet this obligation, the European Union must see to it and
introduce financial and/or penal measures in Community law.

21

R-M19: Reinforcing the competence of international jurisdictions and penalties

regarding health and environment, in case of trans-boundary pollutions.

A. Internalization of pollution
(1) Given that pollutants do not remain in one country, region or continent, but that, as
regards water (as underlined in the 1992 Convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes), these pollutants may contaminate a
neighboring country or even many countries located downstream, and as regards air, (as
underlined in the 1979 Convention in Geneva on trans-boundary atmospheric pollution), this
pollution may travel a great distance, and consequently, contaminate countries very far away
from the polluting area.
(2) According the fundamental principle of the international law on Environment, stated in
principle 2 of the Rio Declaration in 1992 as follows : States have, in accordance with the
Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to
exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies,
and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause
damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national
jurisdiction.,
ANY SIZEABLE POLLUTION MUST COME WITHIN THE AUTHORITY OF AN
INTERNATIONAL JURISDICTION.

B. Legal inadequacy of the polluter pays principle.

Given the seriousness and irreversibility of some environmental damage, given the possibility
of permanent disabilities or premature deaths caused by pollution, given that any pollution
simply amounts to the poisoning of living organisms and the environment, the application of
the polluter pays principle is insufficient and could even be regarded as the right to pollute
for those who have the financial means.
Moreover, owing to the seriousness and irreversibility of some damage regarding
environment and people, owing to the fact that this damage is caused by polluters, and
consequently, that the strict application of the polluter pays principle does not allow for
adequate remedying, owing to the possibility of trans-boundary pollution and to the
fundamental principle of the international law on preserving the environment outside the
limits of national jurisdictions,
THE EUROPEAN UNION MUST MAKE SURE THAT COMMUNITY LAW IS REINFORCED
AND THAT IT CORRESPONDS TO THE SERIOUSNESS OF POLLUTION, TO ITS
TRANS-BOUNDARY CHARACTER AND MOSTLY TO ITS SANITARY CONSEQUENCES,
WHICH CAN ONLY COME UNDER AN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JURISDICTION.
When the intentional or out-of-carelessness failure to meet the European legislation
leads to severe and irreversible environmental damage or environmental sanitary
damage, such as death or the onset of diseases, such as cancers, congenital
malformations, sterility, diseases of the nervous system, the European Union must
make sure the sentence falls within not only the polluter pays principle, but also
within a criminal court of justice considering the offence caused. It is therefore
essential that the prerogatives of the European Communities Court of Justice be
extended to environmental criminal law and that those of the International Criminal
Court be extended to the environment, in order for environmental sanitary damage, if
severe and irreversible, to be prosecuted by a supranational jurisdiction and face
criminal charges.

22

Title III- Protecting children

Chapter 1 : Protecting pregnant women and children
R20: Vulnerability of children.
As stipulated in the Paris Appeal, Article 2, children are now in danger.
A. Scientific arguments.
This consideration relies on three scientific observations: (1) the drop in fertility in most
countries, (2) the vulnerability of the fetus during pregnancy and of the child after birth to
chemical pollutants and (3) the contamination of most current newborns by dozens or
hundreds of chemical pollutants in the environment.
1: The drop in fertility is growing in all industrialized4 countries, so that voluntary birth control
through contraception can no longer be considered as the only cause of the current decline
in births, as observed in most EU Member States. Fertility decrease also appears to be one
of the causes of birth decline. Sterility concerns both men and women alike, and several
scientific studies clearly show that it is largely induced by chemical pollution5,6,7.
2: The developing fetus and the child are very vulnerable to chemical pollutants. During
pregnancy, the fetus is very vulnerable to any outside, physical, chemical or biological attack,
on the one hand, due to the critical periods allowing cell multiplication and differentiation, and
tissue organization and growth, and, on the other hand, due to the immaturity of biological
systems of chemical detoxication. The consequence of this is the possible onset of
congenital malformations8 (which are often the visible effect generated by molecules, while
there are often other more important problems that cannot be seen) and subsequently, after
birth, the onset of other diseases.
After birth, the child is also vulnerable (1) owing to the amounts of air inhaled and water
ingested that are much greater than for an adult, when related to body weight, (2) owing to its
proximity to the ground, where most chemical pollutants accumulate and (3) owing to the
persistent immaturity, until at least 8-10 years of age, of its neurological, endocrine and
immune9 systems.
3: From birth, most newborns are now contaminated by many CMR10-type (Carcinogenic,
Mutagenic, Reprotoxic) chemical pollutants. Analyses carried out on the blood from
newborns umbilical cord show that most of them are contaminated by pollutants to which the
mother was exposed prior to or during pregnancy. Thus, in the study of the Environmental

World Fertility Report : 2003, ESA/P/WP.189, 12 March 2004, United Nations

Skakkebaek NE, Jorgensen N, Main KM, Rajpert-De Meyts E, Leffers H, Andersson AM, Juul A, Carlsen E,
Mortensen GK, Jensen TK, Toppari J. Is human fecundity declining? Int J Androl. 2006 Feb;29(1):2-11.
6
Buck Louis GM, Lynch CD, Cooney MA. Environmental influences on female fecundity and fertility. Semin
Reprod Med. 2006 Jul;24(3):147-155.
7
Amaral Mendes JJ. The endocrine disrupters: a major medical challenge. Food Chem Toxicol. 2002
Jun;40(6):781-8.
8
Sultan C, Paris F, Terouanne B, Balaguer P, Georget V, Poujol N, Jeandel C, Lumbroso S, Nicolas JC.
Disorders linked to insufficient androgen action in male children. Hum Reprod Update. 2001 May-Jun;7(3):314322.
9
Childrens health and environment:. A review of evidence. A joint report from the European Environment Agency.
and the WHO Regional Office for Europe. 2002. Available at: www.euro.who.int/document/e75518.pdf
10
Sharpe RM and Irvine DS. How strong is the evidence of a link between environmental chemicals and adverse
effects on human reproductive health? BMJ. 2004 Feb 21;328(7437):447-451.
5

23

Working Group 11, out of the 413 chemical pollutants sought, 287 were detected on
average, 200 per newborn even though 180 of them are carcinogenic, 217, neurotoxic, and
208 induce congenital malformations or abortions in laboratory animals. The dangers of preor post-natal exposure to compounds of carcinogenic substances or substances that are
toxic for development and the nervous system have not yet been studied. These substances
include heavy metals, such as mercury, cadmium and lead, or Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs) of CMR type, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), used as brominated flameretardants, or else organochlorinated or organophosphorous pesticides It was clearly
demonstrated that these molecules transfer to the placenta12 and thus contaminated the
fetus, and consequently, that they may disrupt growth and development, cause congenital
malformations and, subsequently, be the cause of sterility, cancers, diseases of the nervous
system or immune deficiencies. Therefore, today, newborns are potentially likely to develop
these different pathologies during their lifecycle. And among long-term effects, we should
mention malformations affecting outer male genitals, as well as functional alterations of the
reproductive system occurring at adult age that may be induced by disruptions in the
programming of gonad development during embryonal life13,14. Thus, molecules acting as
endocrine disruptors may have an impact on the sexual identity process15.
B. Sanitary and socioeconomic arguments.

To the three previous considerations regarding chemical pollution, we need to add, as

underlined by the WHO, other risk factors regarding the sanitary and socioeconomic
conditions in which children live around the world.
As shown in WHOs European Health Report 200516, social inequalities increase among
countries, and more particularly among Western European countries and Eastern European
countries, and within each of these countries, among the different socioeconomic groups.
Consequently, health disparities between poor and rich countries increase, and in rich
countries, among the different socioeconomic groups.
This report rightly grants a distinguished place to childrens health, as the latter determines
health for life and the health of the following generation.
And yet, health inequalities in children have now widened unacceptably between poor
countries and wealthy countries, and even in wealthy countries, among the different social
groups. Poverty and the lack of education are the main threats weighing over childrens
health, whatever the level of development of the country considered.
The causes and mortality and morbidity rates in children thus vary considerably. In Europe,
Infectious diseases, traumatisms and intoxications are more frequent in the East, whereas
asthma, allergies, diabetes, obesity and neuropsychiatric disorders are more frequent in the
West.

11

Body Burden The Pollution in Newborns: A benchmark investigation of industrial chemicals, pollutants and
pesticides in umbilical cord blood. Environmental Working Group, July 14, 2005. Available at:
www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/execsumm.php
12
Whyatt RM, Barr DB, Camann DE, Kinney PL, Barr JR, Andrews HF, Hoepner LA, Garfinkel R, Hazi Y, Reyes
A, Ramirez J, Cosme Y, Perera FP. Contemporary-use pesticides in personal air samples during pregnancy and
blood samples at delivery among urban minority mothers and newborns. Environ Health Perspect. 2003
May;111(5):749-756.
13
Sharpe RM, Mc Kinnell C, Kivlin C, Fisher JS. Proliferation and functional maturation of Sertoli cells, and
the relevance to disorders of testis function in adulthood. Reproduction 2003; 125(6):769-784.
14
Skakkebaek NE. Testicular dysgenesis syndrome. Horm Res 2003; 60(3):49.
15
Sultan C, Balaguer P, Terouanne B, Georget V, Paris F, Jeandel C, Lumbroso S, Nicolas J. Environmental
xenoestrogens, antiandrogens and disorders of male sexual differentiation. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2001 Jun
10;178(1-2):99-105.
16
Available at: http://www.euro.who.int/document/e87325.pdf

24

So, we need to add societal causes to environmental chemical pollution, as denounced by

the Paris Appeal, to explain diseases, which justifies the implementation of global strategies
to protect and improve childrens health.
The major priority in Europe, in terms of sustainable health, must concern pregnant
women and children.

Chapter 2: Revision of toxicological standards and general

principles to forbid marketing authorization.
R21: Adaptation of toxicological standards to the embryo and children.
In compliance with group of measures #3 of the Paris Appeal, one can note that toxicological
standards aimed at protecting populations vary from one country to another and are
essentially based on threshold doses assessed to be risk-free in adults, without any specific
consideration for pregnant women and children.
Toxicological standards must be the same for all EU Member States and suit the most
vulnerable people in society, i.e. the embryo and children.

R22: Cumulative toxicity and synergetic effects of chemical substances.

Considering that chemical pollution is multiform, that different chemical substances can
interact with one another (cocktail effects)17 and thus magnify their effects on health, that
these substances may have the same biological target in the body or different targets,
leading to the same effects, and consequently, that different chemical substances, by acting
in a synergistic way, may contribute to magnify the same toxic effect :
THE NOTION OF THRESHOLD DOSE FOR EACH TOXIC SUBSTANCE APPEARS
INADEQUATE.
These considerations, combined with the fact that repeated low doses are likely to induce
diseases by chronic toxicity (refer to CS2), show that :
REGULATORY STANDARDS IMPLEMENTED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION ARE, AS
THEY STAND TODAY, UNABLE TO PROTECT EUROPEAN CITIZENS AGAINST THE
ONSET OF SUCH DISEASES.
To establish toxicological standards, it is highly recommended that, in determining
threshold doses for each chemical substance, the notion of cumulative toxicity be
taken into account, not only defined as the accumulation of a chemical substances
effects in the body according to the period of time, but also as the possibility that
different substances may interact in a synergistic way and have, in the body,
cumulative sanitary effects. As a precautionary measure, chemical substances
assessed as sufficiently toxic in themselves or as contributing to magnify the toxic
effects of other chemical substances, which are not necessarily toxic in themselves,
must be purely and simply withdrawn from the market.

M23: Withdrawal of CMR substances from the market.

In compliance with group of measures #1 of the Paris Appeal, in accordance with the second
consideration (CS2) stated in title 1 of the Memorandum, considering that it is not only the

17

Cancer as an Environmental Disease. Series: Environmental Science and Technology Library , Vol. 20.
Nicolopoulou-Stamati, P.; Hens, L.; Howard, V.C.; Van Larebeke, N. (Eds.). 2004

25

intensity of a daily dose of a chemical substance that should be taken into account, but also
the repetition of doses - thus the exposure time to this chemical substance (and this,
whatever the intensity of the daily dose) - and considering the previous Recommendation
(R22) :
Any molecule likely to contaminate the water, air, soil or food that has been
scientifically assessed as CMR or probably CMR must be withdrawn from the market.

M24: Withdrawal from the market of chemical substances which transfer to the
placenta.
In the marketing authorization file of any chemical substance, placental transfer of
chemical substances must be systematically and scientifically studied. Any chemical
substance that is lipophilic, bioaccumulative and for which there is a proven placental
transfer, whether it be or not recognized as CMR, must be withdrawn from the market,
due to its possible toxicity for the embryo and fetus in pregnant women and,
subsequently, children.

M25: Assessment of thresholds for non-CMR chemical substances.

In case of chemical substances that have been clearly identified as not being CMR or
probably CMR (M23), that are not bioaccumulative or likely to present cocktail
effects and that do not transfer to the placenta (M24), as a precautionary measure,
threshold doses assessed to be risk-free must be assessed according to scientific
data available regarding their chemical and biological properties.

Chapter 3 : Hazardous chemical substances

M26: Measuring out of mercury in fish and seafood.
Many metals, such as lead, arsenic, nickel, chromium, cadmium, aluminum and mercury, are
toxic for health, even at a low daily dose. These metals or their derivatives are ingested in
the form of particles or inhaled in the form of toxic fumes.
Mercury and its ethylic or methylic derivatives are the cause of learning difficulties and
diseases of the central nervous system affecting more particularly children. Mercury
accumulates in the whole food chain, in particular in fish and seafood, and, in pregnant
women, transfers to the placenta and therefore contaminates the fetus. According to certain
studies, mercury could be one of the major causes of numerous cases of autism18,19.
The European Union must make it compulsory to measure out mercury in fish and
seafood, and to prohibit sale when they are contaminated by mercury.

M27: Ban on medical and cosmetic products containing mercury.

Certain medical devices often resort to the bactericide action of mercury. Such is the case of
dental amalgams containing mercury that are used as filling materials for the treatment of
tooth decay. Such is also the case for vaccines containing mercury in the form of thimerosal.

18

Bernard S, Enayati A, Redwood L, Roger H, Binstock T. Autism: a novel form of mercury poisoning. Med
Hypotheses. 2001 Apr; 56(4):462-471.
19
Holmes AS, Blaxill MF, Haley BE. Reduced levels of mercury in first baby haircuts of autistic children. Int J
Toxicol. 2003 Jul-Aug; 22(4):277-285.

26

Thimerosal is a salt complex of ethyl mercury and thiosalicylate used as an additive in

vaccines and cosmetic products due to its bactericidal or fungal action.
The European Union must ban dental amalgams with mercury and forbid the placing
on the market of vaccines, containing mercury in the form of thimerosal and, in
general, ban any medical preparation and cosmetic products, containing thimerosal or
any other form of mercury-based substances.

M28: Mercury ban in maternities, crches, hospitals and schools.

The European Union must ban the use of mercury in all its forms, in all public places,
and in particular in maternities, crches, hospitals and schools.

M29: Aldehydes and indoor air pollution. Ban on the use of formaldehyde.
Aldehydes and more particularly formaldehyde are carcinogenic. Formaldehyde is classified
by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a carcinogenic product (group
1) 20,21.
Formaldehyde is present in many materials and products used for buildings.
At room temperature, it evaporates and spreads in the indoor air of public buildings or
homes.
Several surveys, including one carried out in France22, put forward very high rates of
formaldehyde in the indoor air of public buildings, and in particular in schools where children
remain for long periods of time.
The European Union must legislate on indoor air pollution (see Title V, Chapter 4) and
ban the use of aldehydes recognized as toxic, in particular formaldehyde, in materials
and products used in the building industry and indoor furniture products, in
accordance with Measures 50 and 95.

M30: Ban on the use of aldehydes known to be toxic, in particular formaldehyde in

pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.
Formaldehyde is classified as carcinogenic by IARC. And yet it is a constituent of many
cosmetic products and even of several pharmaceutical products.
The European Union must prohibit the placing on the market of cosmetic or
pharmaceutical products containing aldehydes recognized as toxic, and more
specifically formaldehyde.

M31: Phthalates and medical plastics. Ban on the use of DEHP.

Contamination due to certain phthalates is the cause of repeated abortions in rats and
mice23,24 and of sterility in man25 (Refer to Recommendation R20). Phthalates may also be
the cause of congenital malformations in children.

20

IARC monograph Volume 88 (in preparation) Formaldehyde, 2-Butoxyethanol and 1-tert-Butoxy-2-propanol

Cogliano V, Grosse Y, Baan RA, Straif K, Secretan MB, El Ghissassi F and the Working Group for Volume 88.
Meeting Report: Summary of IARC Monograph on Formaldehyde, 2-Butoxyethanol and 1-tert-Butoxy-2-propanol.
Environ Health, 2005, Sep; 113(9): 1205-1208.
22
A campaign to measure formaldehyde in the air of 150 schools and crches was conducted in Strasburg,
France, by the Association for the monitoring and study of atmospheric pollution in Alsace (ASPA) :
http://rsein.ineris.fr/actualite/actu_pdf/13_NLeclerc.pdf#search=%22formald%C3%A9hyde%20aspa%20ecole%2
2
23
Saillenfait AM, Sabate JP, Gallissot F. Developmental toxic effects of diisobutyl phthalate, the methyl-branched
analogue of di-n-butyl phthalate, administered by gavage to rats. Toxicol Lett. 2006 Aug 1;165(1):39-46.
21

27

Certain phthalates, including Di-2-EthylHexyl-Phthalate (DEHP), are used in combination

with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) as plasticizers to soften plastics. And yet, the combination of
DEHP and PVC is unstable, which leads DEHP to come off PVC.
Soft plastics are used in particular to manufacture medical IV equipment (IV pouches, tubes,
catheters) and thus may contaminate hospitalized patients26 or people who have had a blood
donation. Due to its instability with PVC, a certain quantity of DEHP is released in the blood
flow during IVs.
The European Union must ban the use of DEHP in the manufacturing of medical IV
equipment and the use of any other unstable phthalate or any phthalate made stable
by risky chemical processes, and consequently, promote the use of alternatives to
PVC to manufacture soft plastic objects.

Chapter 4 : Pesticides, food additives and diet.

R32: Family policy and decrease in pollution due to reprotoxic substances.
According to UNOs Demographic Report 200527, birth rates are now declining in a great
number of EU Member States, and the forecast is that, around 2050, the European
population may globally lose about 75 to 100 million in habitants.
This decline is usually attributed to a voluntary limitation on births related to contraception for
psychological or socioeconomic reasons.
A second probable factor is that this decline could also be related to a decrease in fertility.
According to WHO, in Europe, nearly 15% of couples of reproductive age do not have any
children, although they do wish to have a family. In fact, several scientific studies have
proven a causal link between contamination by different endocrine disruptors
(organochlorinated pesticides, phthalates, PCBs, certain heavy metals such as lead, etc.)
and a decrease of fertility or the onset of sterility28,29,30. We also know that having a full-term
first child relatively early in life (before 30 years old) decreases the risk of breast cancer31.
Moreover, a study showed that women with 6 or 7 children, each having been breast-fed for
2 years, develop 4 times less breast cancers than those who have 2 to 3 children on average

24

Saillenfait AM, Sabate JP, Gallissot F. Comparative embryotoxicities of butyl benzyl phthalate, mono-n-butyl
phthalate and mono-benzyl phthalate in mice and rats: in vivo and in vitro observations. Reprod Toxicol. 2003
Sep-Oct;17(5):575-583.
25
Latini G, Del Vecchio A, Massaro M, Verrotti A, De Felice C. Phthalate exposure and male infertility. Toxicology.
2006 Sep 21; 226(2-3): 90-98.
26
Weuve J, Sanchez BN, Calafat AM, Schettler T, Green RA, Hu H, Hauser R. Exposure to phthalates in neonatal
intensive care unit infants: urinary concentrations of monoesters and oxidative metabolites. Environ Health
Perspect. 2006 Sep;114(9):1424-1231.
27
Available at : http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/WPP2004/2004EnglishES.pdf
28
Bretveld RW, Thomas CM, Scheepers PT, Zielhuis GA, Roeleveld N. Pesticide exposure: the hormonal function
of the female reproductive system disrupted? Reprod Biol Endocrinol. 2006 May 31;4:30-43.
29
Carlsen E, Giwercman A, Keiding N, Skakkebaek NE. Evidence for decreasing quality of semen during past 50
years. BMJ. 1992 Sep 12;305(6854):609-613.
30
De Vigan C, Khoshnood B, Lhomme A, Vodovar V, Goujard J, Goffinet F. Prevalence and prenatal diagnosis of
congenital malformations in the Parisian population: twenty years of surveillance by the Paris Registry of
congenital malformations. J Gynecol Obstet Biol Reprod (Paris). 2005 Feb;34(1 Pt 1):8-16.
31
Andrieu N, Goldgar DE, Easton DF, Rookus M, Brohet R, Antoniou AC, Peock S, Evans G, Eccles D, Douglas
F, Nogues C, Gauthier-Villars M, Chompret A, Van Leeuwen FE, Kluijt I, Benitez J, Arver B, Olah E, ChangClaude J; EMBRACE; GENEPSO; GEO-HEBON; IBCCS Collaborators Group. Pregnancies, breast-feeding, and
breast cancer risk in the International BRCA1/2 Carrier Cohort Study (IBCCS).
J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Apr 19;98(8):535-544.

28

and who breast-feed them 2 to 3 months in general, as is often the case in the Member
States32.
The European Union must develop a family policy aimed at encouraging young
women to have their first child before the age of 30, and families to conceive a third
child with suitable financial and social measures. Meanwhile, in accordance with the
principle of reduction of environmental pollutions at source and in addition to
Measures M24 and M25, the European Union must take much stronger measures to
fight water, air, soil and food pollution, due to reprotoxic substances, in order to limit
contamination of future parents and thus, of their children by these substances.

R33: Stepping up criteria regarding the marketing of pesticides. Revision of directive

91/414/EEC.
The childhood pesticides poisoning33Report of May 2004, issued by FAO/WHO/UNEP,
underlines that the number of children intoxicated by pesticides in the world has now reached
1 to 5 million per year, including several thousands of deaths. Most intoxications affect rural
areas in developing countries, where protection measures are often insufficient. For
developed countries, several scientific studies show in a convergent way that numerous
pesticides currently present on the market are the causes, not only of a decrease of fertility in
couples of reproductive age, but also of congenital malformations in newborns34, of learning
difficulties in children35, and subsequently, of diseases of the central nervous system, as well
as cancers36,37.
And yet, Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991 concerning the placing of plant
protection products on the market, comprises many loopholes :
(1) Tests to show the effects of endocrine disruptors and neurotoxic effects are neither
specified nor required.
(2) There are no specific tests to show the long term effects of exposure on developing
organisms, on nervous, endocrine, immune and reproductive systems and on
carcinogenesis.
(3) The vulnerability of the embryo, fetus and children is not taken into account.
(4) Possible synergy effects (cocktail effects) between active principles and components
called inert in marketed formulations, are not taken into account, whereas, in certain cases,
such effects have been scientifically proven for some formulations38. When several
pesticides are used on the land, possible synergetic or additive effects between these
different pesticides are not taken into account either.
The European Union must redefine the criteria of non-dangerousness of pesticides on
the market, according to current scientific advances, which should lead to classify a
certain number of pesticides recently placed on the market in the group of dangerous
substances, either because they have CMR properties, neurotoxic, immunotoxic or
endocrine disruptor or because they are considered as dangerous for the embryo and

32

Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer: Breast Cancer and breastfeeding: collaborative
reanalysis of individual data from 47 epidemiological studies in 30 countries, including 50,302 women with breast
cancer and 96,973 women without the disease. Lancet. 2002, 360, 187-196,
33
Childhood Pesticide Poisoning - Information for Advocacy and Action. Prepared for the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP). Available at: www.who.int/ceh/publications/en/pestpoisoning.pdf
34
Hanke W, Jurewicz J. The risk of adverse reproductive and developmental disorders due to occupational
pesticide exposure: an overview of current epidemiological evidence. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2004;
17(2): 223-243.
35
Kofman O, Berger A, Massarwa A, Friedman A, Jaffar AA. Motor inhibition and learning impairments in schoolaged children following exposure to organophosphate pesticides in infancy. Pediatr Res. 2006 Jul;60(1):88-92.
36
Reynolds P, Von Behren J, Gunier RB, Goldberg DE, Hertz A, Harnly ME. Childhood cancer and agricultural
pesticide use: an ecologic study in California.Environ Health Perspect. 2002 Mar;110(3):319-324.
37
Zahm SH, Ward MH, Blair A. Pesticides and cancer. Occup Med. 1997 Apr-Jun;12(2):269-289.
38
Richard S, Moslemi S, Sipahutar H, Benachour N, Seralini GE. Differential effects of glyphosate and roundup on
human placental cells and aromatase. Environ Health Perspect. 2005 Jun;113(6):716-720.

29

fetus. The European Union must therefore fully review Council Directive 91/414/EEC,
which has now become obsolete.

M34: Infant foods using organic farming produce.

Commission Directive 2005/48/EC of 23 August 2005 amending Council Directives
86/362/EEC, 86/363/EEC and 90/642/EEC as regards maximum residue levels for certain
pesticides in and on cereals and certain products of animal and plant, set maximum residue
limits (MRL) for foods intended for human or animal consumption in the EU, but without
considering the consumption of these foods by infants and small children. For the latter,
Commission directive 1999/39/EC of 6 May 1999 amending Directive 96/5/EC on processed
cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children brings down to 0.01mg/kg
the maximum residue level of pesticides in cereal-based and baby food preparations for
infants (excluding certain substances whose level is set in Appendix VII), and enumerates
the pesticides that should not be used in agricultural products intended for processed cerealbased foods and baby foods for infants and young children.
Commission Directive 2003/13/EC of 10 February 2003 amending the directive mentioned
here above, bans the use of certain pesticides in agricultural products intended for baby
foods (list in Appendix VIII). However, these directives do not take into account the particular
physiological vulnerability of the embryo and fetus, in pregnant women, nor that of newborns
and children (CS1), nor the effects of low doses of substances (CS2), nor their possible
synergetic combinations and cumulative effects (R22).
In order to avoid contamination of infants by chemical products, ingredients used in
baby foods must come from organic farming.

M35: Newborns and food additives.

In order to avoid contamination of newborns by chemical products, baby foods should
contain no other food additives than those authorized in accordance with the new
terms of marketing, such as recommended in Recommendation-Measure R-M69.

Chapter 5 : Obesity, cancers, allergies

R-M36: Overweight and obesity in children.
Obesity in children constitutes a major public health issue in developed countries, in
particular in Europe, as it is in itself a risk factor for many other diseases: cardiovascular
diseases, diabetes, cancers In Europe, fourteen million children are overweight, including
3 million who are obese. One child out of five is overweight or obese in Europe39. Moreover,
the number of overweight children increases every year by 400,000.
The European legislation must be much stricter regarding the contents of food
products placed on the market in sugar, salt and fatty acids (refer to
Recommendation-Measure R-M65 and Recommendation R68) and food additives (refer
to Recommendation-MeasureR-M69)

39

IOTF - International Obesity Task Force - mars 2005 : http://www.iotf.org/

30

M37: Organic foods in school cafeterias.

The European Commissions Green Paper COM(2005) 0637 final - "Promoting healthy diets
and physical activity: a European dimension for the prevention of overweight, obesity and
chronic diseases" recommends healthy food choices in schools.
In order to prevent overweight and obesity through promotion of a healthy diet and genuine
education of children,
The European Union must promote and subsidize the introduction of organic foods in
school cafeterias and encourage the Member States to do so with strong measures.

R38: Childhood cancers. Location of new schools.

According to IARC data, the number of childhood cancers has risen by over 1% a year in the
last 20-30 years, in Europe40,41. This incidence increase essentially concerns acute leukemia
and cerebral tumors.
Although research is on-going, current studies show that the risk of leukemia is heightened
when children live near a very busy road network42, a service station or a garage43.
The European Union and the Member States must ban the setting up of garages and
service stations in the vicinity of schools and ban the setting up of schools in the
vicinity of busy roads or highways (and vice-versa).

R39: Childhood cancers and high voltage powerlines.

Several scientific studies have concluded that there is a heightened risk of acute leukemia in
children living close to high voltage powerlines44. The mechanism could be ionization of
suspended particles in the air, in the vicinity of powerlines45,46.
The European Union and the Member States must ban the setting up of high voltage
powerlines less than 300 meters from dwellings or construction of dwellings less than
300 meters from high voltage powerlines.

R40: Portable and cordless phones.

According to the Report published by the British National Radiological Protection Board
(NRPB) 47 , on 11 January 2005, children under the age of eight are particularly vulnerable to
the use of portable phones: Their cranium is not fully formed, their nervous system, not fully
developed, and radiations go deeper into their brains.

40

Steliarova-Foucher E, Stiller C, Kaatsch P, Berrino F, Coebergh JW, Lacour B, Parkin M. Geographical patterns
and time trends of cancer incidence and survival among children and adolescents in Europe since the 1970s (the
ACCISproject): an epidemiological study. Lancet. 2004 Dec 11-17; 364(9451): 2097-2105.
41
Kaatsch P, Steliarova-Foucher E, Crocetti E, Magnani C, Spix C, Zambon P. Time trends of cancer incidence in
European children (1978-1997): Report from the Automated Childhood Cancer Information System project. Eur J
Cancer. 2006 Sep;42(13):1961-1971.
42
Crosignani P, Tittarelli A, Borgini A, Codazzi T, Rovelli A, Porro E, Contiero P, Bianchi N, Tagliabue G, Fissi R,
Rossitto F, Berrino F. Childhood leukemia and road traffic: A population-based case-control study. Int J Cancer.
2004 Feb 10;108(4):596-599.
43
Steffen C, Auclerc MF, Auvrignon A, Baruchel A, Kebaili K, Lambilliotte A, Leverger G, Sommelet D, Vilmer E,
Hemon D, Clavel J. Acute childhood leukaemia and environmental exposure to potential sources of benzene and
other hydrocarbons; a case-control study. Occup Environ Med. 2004 Sep;61(9):773-778.
44
Draper G, Vincent T, Kroll ME, Swanson J. Childhood cancer in relation to distance from high voltage power
lines in England and Wales: a case-control study. BMJ. 2005 Jun 4;330(7503):1290-1295.
45
Fews AP, Henshaw DL, Wilding RJ, Keitch PA. Corona ions from powerlines and increased exposure to
pollutant aerosols. International Journal of Radiation Biology, 1999, 75(12): 1523-1531.
46
Fews AP, Henshaw DL, Keitch PA, Close JJ, Wilding RJ. Increased exposure to pollutant aerosols under high
voltage powerlines. International Journal of Radiation Biology, 1999, 75(12): 1505-1521.
47
Mobile
Phone
and
Health
2004
Report
by
the
board
of
NPRB:
http://www.sante.bouyguestelecom.fr/btdocs/385.pdf

31

According to at least one study having the advantage of a sufficient lapse of time, the risk of
a cerebral tumor appears to be demonstrated in case of prolonged exposure to portable
phones and other cordless phones48.
Certain Member States, such as Germany and Austria, have taken protective measures and
others, such as Great-Britain, have issued recommendations to the public, while many
Member States have not yet taken any measure or promulgated any warning whatsoever.
In general, there is no law in Europe governing the conditions of use of portable phones and
taking into account the particular vulnerability of the fetus (pregnant women) and children,
nor official standards fixing a time limit of use of portable phones.
The European Union must legislate on portable and cordless phone. As a
precautionary measure, the European Union must strongly advise pregnant women
and all children under the age of 8 against using a portable phone for a prolonged
period of time.

R41: Allergy management.

Allergies have become very frequent in children. According to official data in Europe, a child
under 10 years old out of four is affected by allergies and one child out of ten suffers from
asthma in Europe49.
Moreover, the incidence of allergies has been growing over the last 30 years, though the
reason for this is not yet well-known. The mechanisms of the onset of allergy are still littleknown.
As noted in WHOs regional office report in Europe, asthma is ten-fold more frequent in
Western European countries than in Eastern European countries, which suggests that the
incidence increase of allergies is not only linked to the environment, but could also be related
to western countries lifestyle.
Allergies may have respiratory, food or skin causes. Many factors are involved, including
passive smoking, atmospheric pollution and, essentially, suspended dust in the air, which
causes respiratory allergies.
Due to their ability to carry natural or artificial allergens, atmospheric dust is one of the major
factors causing respiratory allergies. Likewise, food allergies may be due to the allergenic
properties of 70 different types of foods, but only a limited number of them seem to concern
children50.
The Codex Alimentarius on food labeling has listed the foods and ingredients that may cause
severe allergy reactions: gluten, seafood, fish, eggs, mild, peanuts, soybeans, nuts,
hazelnuts, sulfites In fact, some food additives may also cause food allergies, when added
in very small amounts in foods at a very early age.
The European Union and the Member States must legislate in a much stricter way, in
the field of allergies. Among the measures to be considered, we should mention the
need to fight insalubrity of homes, traceability of foods with the obligation to label all
allergens included in them, publishing of the lists of allergens contained in foods for
children in school catering, development of targeted prevention methods, regarding in
particular pregnant women and children, intensification of allergy research and

48

Hardell L, Carlberg M, Hansson Mild K. Pooled analysis of two case-control studies on use of cellular and
cordless telephones and the risk for malignant brain tumours diagnosed in 1997-2003. Int Arch Occup Environ
Health. 2006 Sep;79(8): 630-639.
49
Joint Report of the WHOs regional office in Europe and the European Agency for Environment, entitled
Childrens health and environment: a review of evidence (Tamburlini G and al., eds. Copenhagen, European
Agency for Environment, 2002. 4457 (Environmental issue report, n 29).
50
Information
note
INFOSAN
N3/2006

Food
allergies
av alaible
at :
www.who.int/foodsafety/fs_management/No_03_allergy_june06_fr.pdf

32

especially, recognition of allergology as a medical specialty in the framework of

environmental medicine (Refer to Recommendation-Measure R-M163).

33

Title IV- Marketing of chemical substances

Chapter 1 : The Substitution Principle and REACH regulation
R42: REACH51 Regulation.
According to the Report Hazardous Chemicals can be substituted52, the annual world
output of chemical substances went from one million tons in 1930 to 500 million tons in 2005.
Since the last world war, several thousands of chemical substances have been placed on the
market without sufficient toxicological control.
Multiple and numerous scientific papers have shown, in a convergent way, a causal link
between certain chemical substances or groups of chemicals and the occurrence of new
diseases or increasing incidence of already known diseases, such as congenital
malformations, sterility, cancers, diseases of the nervous system and allergies.
In some cases, epidemiological studies remain negative, although toxicological studies have
shown a link of causality. Nevertheless, in accordance with chapter 8 of the Paris Appeal,
and taking into account scientific consideration #3 (CS3), in Title 1 of the Memorandum:
A NEGATIVE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY DOES NOT MEAN THE ABSENCE OF RISK.
The European program REACH was born from Council Directive 76/769/EEC of 27 July
1976 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the
Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous
substances and preparations, from Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 of 23 March 1993
on the evaluation and control of the risks of existing substances and from the White Paper
(COM (2001) 88 final) of the European Commission of 27 February 2001 relating to a
Strategy for a future Chemicals Policy.
In the context of sustainable development and harmonization of laws and regulations
regarding the marketing of chemicals in the Member States in the Union, the objective is
indeed to substitute dangerous chemical substances for less dangerous ones, in accordance
with the substitution principle.
Given the existence of diffuse, multiform and persistent chemical pollution as being
the cause of numerous diseases, and the necessity to legislate at the level of all the
Member States in the Union, the European Union, in compliance with group of
measures #7 of the Paris Appeal, must reinforce the European program REACH rather
than weaken it. As it stands, the European program REACH can only be the first step
of a much longer legislative process meant to be progressively reinforced.

R43: Obligation to use substitute products when they are not as hazardous.
The substitution principle was defined in the Commission White Paper (Com(2001)88 final)
of 27 February 2001 on Strategy for a future Chemicals Policy. It consists in systematically
replacing dangerous chemical substances placed on the market with less dangerous or
preferably harmless chemical substances, when such alternatives exist.
The European Union and all the Member States must promote unfailing enforcement
of the substitution principle for all chemical substances intended for marketing, when
they are assessed as dangerous. When there is a less dangerous option, industrialists
must submit to it, without any possible dispensation or exemption. The
dangerousness or harmlessness of a chemical substance for health and /or

51
52

REACH stands for Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals.

The Ecological Council, Hazardous Chemicals can be substituted: www.ecocouncil.dk/download/subst_uk.pdf

34

environment must be assessed with existing scientific data by a panel of scientific

experts, acting independently, in the framework of a suitable international
organization.

M44: Withdrawal of CMR53 substances from the market.

CMR substances were originally defined and characterized in directives 97/56/EC, 99/43/EC,
2001/41/EC and 2003/34/EC. Substances and products containing these substances are
banned from the consumers market.
Directive 2005/90/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 January 2006
added to the list of Council Directive 76/769/EEC of 27 July 1976, 346 entries concerning
CMR substances. In reality, numerous CMR substances have been marketed over the last
25 years, which explains the current growing incidence of cancers, congenital malformations
and sterility in all EU Member States. Indeed, owing to the diffuse and multiform evolution of
chemical pollution,
THERE IS NO TECHNICO-SCIENTIFIC MEANS TO PROVE THAT THE TOXIC RISKS OF
A PRODUCT MARKETED ON A LARGE SCALE, I.E. INTENDED TO BE WIDELY
CONSUMED, CAN BE VALIDLY CONTROLLED.
The only way to reduce the growing incidence of diseases related to chemical pollution
caused by the marketing of CMR substances is to phase out or reduce the marketing of such
substances, in accordance with the combating environmental pollution at source.
In compliance with the precautionary principle and combating environmental pollution
at source, and in accordance with group of measures #1 and 2 of the Paris Appeal,
withdrawal from the market of any toxic substance, be it or not classified as CMR or of
any product containing that substance, must be mandatory, when a less toxic option
exists and when its lesser toxicity has been scientifically validated.

R-M45: Regulation regarding CMR substances which have not been withdrawn from
the market, because there is no substitute and these substances are considered
essential.
In accordance with group of measures #1 of the Paris Appeal, when for a CMR
product, no alternative exists, the product must be withdrawn from the market, if it is
not justified as essential to society. Conversely, it may remain on the market, if it is
considered to be essential. But, in that case, it may remain on the market under
certain conditions only, i.e., in the framework of a strict regulation defining the
persistence time on the market (transitory period), the amount placed on the market
(quotas) and the restriction of its use (curtailment).

R46: Traceability and labeling of hazardous substances.

The labeling of dangerous substances is governed by Commission Directive 2004/73/EC of
29 April 2004 adapting to technical progress for the twenty-ninth time Council Directive
67/548/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions
relating to the classification, packaging and labeling of dangerous substances.
The classification of dangerous substances is founded on well-defined categories, according
to the degree of dangerousness and the specific nature of risks. Dangerous substances are
classified in explosive, inflammable, toxic or harmful substances in Appendix I of directive
2004/73/EC.

53

Cancerogen,. Mutagen and Reprotoxic

35

The European Union must extend the list of hazardous substances classified in the
toxic substances or harmful substances categories to all substances for which it
has been proven that they are CMR and to those proven to be immunosuppressive,
allergenic or neurotoxic. When certain of these substances are still included in the
products placed on the market, the European Union must include substances proven
to be CMR and those proven to be immunosuppressive, allergenic or neurotoxic, in
the list of dangerous substances classified in the toxic substances or harmful
substances categories. When these substances are still contained in products on the
market, the European Union must, at first, reinforce the traceability and labeling of
marketed products, by imposing a clear mention of the sanitary risks to the consumer,
and subsequently, withdraw them from the market, as soon as a non-toxic alternative
has been found.

Chapter 2 : Reconversion of the industry and green chemistry

R47: Reconversion aid for the chemical industry.
The previous considerations require that the European industry, in particular the chemical
industry, following the example of several Member States and taking into account the
assessment drawn by the Ecological Council54 ,modify in depth its conception of products
marketing and that, owing to the substitution principle, it place on the market non-toxic
products in order to meet the requirements of new laws and increase its market shares.
THE EUROPEAN INDUSTRY MUST STIMULATE INNOVATION, BY INTENSIFYING ITS
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF GREEN CHEMISTRY
IN ORDER TO MEET SUSTAINABLE HEALTH REQUIREMENTS.
The European Union must help the chemical industry to change activity by
subsidizing research in the field of green chemistry and must encourage the
marketing of clean products by taking appropriate fiscal measures.

M48: Financial incentives to market clean products.

The European Union and the Member States have two options: either to tax polluting
products on the market, or to stimulate the marketing of clean products by lowering the Value
Added Tax (VAT) on these products. Simultaneous implementation of these two types of
measures is possible.
In order to promote the marketing of clean products, any non-polluting product or
object placed on the market, in place of a polluting product or object, must benefit
from a lower rate of the Value Added Tax (VAT).

R49: Development of Green Chemistry.

Green chemistry was defined in 1991 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)55. The term green chemistry is defined as the invention, design and application of
chemical products and processes to reduce or to eliminate the use and generation of
hazardous substances.
This definition was elaborated according to twelve principles, by American chemists P.T.
Anastas and J.C. Warner56 who contributed to the development of this concept : decrease
losses ; design safer chemicals and products ; design less dangerous chemical syntheses ;

54

The ecological council, Hazardous Chemicals can be substituted: www.ecocouncil.dk/download/subst_uk.pdf

Available at: http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/
56
PT Anastas, JC Warner, Green chemistry: theory and practice, Oxford University Press, New York 1998
55

36

use renewable raw materials ; use catalysts ; avoid the manufacturing of by-products ;
maximize atom saving ; use safer solvents and auxiliaries ; increase energetic efficiency ;
design non persistent substances ; analyze pollution risks in real time ; reduce accident risks
to a minimum.
The European Union must make an absolute priority to assist industrialists in
improving processes to market products that are clean and non toxic for health and
the environment. Following the example of the European Program TOPCOMBI (Toward
optimized chemical processes and new materials by combinatorial science), launched
on 11 March 2005, dedicated to catalysis57, the European Union in partnership with
industrialists and researchers, must implement and fund many other research
programs, in the field of green chemistry.

Chapter 3 : Hazardous toxic substances to be withdrawn from the

market as a priority
M50: Aldehydes.
Aldehydes, and in particular, as noted in Measure M29, formaldehyde, are carcinogenic.
Formaldehyde, though classified as carcinogenic (group 1) by the IARC58,59, is used in glues,
in particular, in wood glues, plastic glues and textile glues, insulating wool (rock wool or glass
wool), in insulating foams, in particular formal insulating foam, as well as in coatings and
some paints.
Some non-toxic, but irritating, glass wool are now mixed to carcinogenic products as
formaldehyde. The obtained compound is then potentially carcinogenic.
Thus, formaldehyde should be totally banned in all insulating material used in the building
sector, as it is given off in the air, notably in the most confined areas of buildings (roof
structure, attic, mezzanine floor, childrens rooms in attics, etc.). Some insulating materials
called organic in some countries (France, Germany, Belgium), which contain hemp in single
sheets or chipboard glued with formaldehyde, are not devoid of carcinogenic effects.
All mineral or artificial fiber-based insulating materials and all wood- or hemp-based
insulating materials, as they are mixed, whether soaked in or glued with formaldehyde, must
be withdrawn from the market.
In addition to Measure M29 and in compliance with group of measures #1 of the Paris
Appeal, the European Union must ban, through a specific directive, the marketing of
any product containing aldehydes, in particular formaldehyde, used to fit out the
inside of buildings or to manufacture furniture. The European Union must ban glues,
coatings, paints, insulating foams and wools that contain aldehydes, and all the more
as substitution products exist, such as plant-based bioadhesives and starch-based
bioglues.

M51: Phthalates.
Phthalates are used as plasticizers, notably in Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), and thus, in most
common plastic objects made of PVC.

57

Available at: http://www.dr7.cnrs.fr/IMG/pdf/topcombi.pdf

Cogliano V, Grosse Y, Baan RA, Straif K, Secretan MB, El Ghissassi F and the Working Group for Volume 88.
Meeting Report: Summary of IARC Monograph on Formaldehyde, 2-Butoxyethanol and 1-tert-Butoxy-2-propanol.
Environ Health, 2005, Sep; 113(9): 1205-1208.
59
IARC monograph Volume 88 (in preparation) Formaldehyde, 2-Butoxyethanol and 1-tert-Butoxy-2-propanol
58

37

Certain phthalates are also used in the manufacturing of many cosmetic products and food
packaging. Due to their unstable combination with the polymers contained in packaging,
phthalates thus contaminate foods. Some phthalates are potentially CMR substances due to
their reprotoxic and carcinogenic properties (Refer to Measure M31).
The most commonly used phthalates are di-isononyl phthalate (DINP), di-(2-ethylhexyl)
phthalate (DEHP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), di-isodecyl phthalate (DIDP), le di-n-octyl
phthalate (DNOP) and butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP).
In 1999, directive 1999/815/CE temporarily banned the use of these 6 phthalates in
childrens toys and in childcare articles. Since 1999, as a precautionary measure, this ban
has been prolonged several times, as testified by Directive 2005/84/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2005, amending for the 22nd time Council
Directive 76/769/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative
provisions of the Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain
dangerous substances and preparations (phthalates in toys and childcare articles).
In 2004, phthalates were registered on the list of undesirable chemical substances by
Denmarks Agency for Environmental Protection60.
DEHP is a CMR product. It is classified as reprotoxic (category 1) in Commission Directive
2001/59/EU of 6 August 2001.
In accordance with groups of Measures #1 and 2 of the Paris Appeal and in addition to
Measure M31 of the Memorandum, as a precautionary measure, the European Union
must immediately withdraw DEHP from the market, must ban the use of plastics
containing phthalates to manufacture medical equipment61 and cosmetics. Moreover,
in compliance with the substitution principle, the European Union must promote the
gradual replacement of polymers combined with phthalates, i.e. essentially PolyVinyl
Chloride (PVC) plastics, by alternative polymers that do not require phthalates,
because of their natural softness and elasticity.

M52: Glycol ethers.

The family of glycol ethers comprises about 80 chemical substances that appear in the
composition of many products.
Glycol ethers can be classified in two main categories: ethylene glycol (and diethylene glycol)
derivatives and propylene glycol derivatives.
These derivatives are both hydrosoluble and soluble in organic solvents, which explains their
quick industrial expansion to replace aromatic organic solvents used in the 70s.
Glycol ethers are currently used in different categories of products : glues, inks, paints,
coatings, detergents, cosmetics, notably hair dyes, household cleaning products, products
used by the mechanical industry and steel industry. Glycol ethers are toxic through their acid
and aldehydic metabolites. Certain glycol ethers have CMR properties. They cause
reprotoxicity, congenital malformations and hematotoxicity62.
Owing to current scientific knowledge and scientific expertise in compliance with
groups of measures #1 and 2 of the Paris Appeal, the European Union must ban the
marketing of ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (EGME), ethylene glycol ethyl ether
(EGEE), ethylene glycol butyl ether (EGBE), diethylene glycol dimethyl ether
(DEGDME), triethylene glycol metyl ether (TEGME), and propylene glycol methyl ether
(PGME), as well as the acetates of all these glycol ethers.

60

Available at : http://www.mst.dk/homepage
Alternative to Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and Di(2-Ethylhexyl)Phthalate (DEHP) Medical Devices in Going Green :
A Resource Kit for Pollution Prevention in Health Care. Available at: http:///www.noharm.org/goinggreen
62
Joint Inserm assessment Glycol ethers : new toxicological data Edition Inserm, 2006. Available at:
http://www.inserm.fr/fr/questionsdesante/mediatheque/expertises
61

38

M53: Bisphenol A.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is used as a monomer in the industrial manufacturing of polycarbon
plastics and of epoxy resins. It is also used as an antioxidant in plasticizers and PVC and as
an polymerization inhibitor in PVC.
BPA has been known to be an endocrine disrupter63, acting as an estrogen64, since 1936.
And yet, BPA is part of the composition of inner coatings for most cans of food, of plastics
used to manufacture baby bottles and stiff water bottles and toys, etc. Moreover, BPA is
used as an additive in other common products.
Heating, sterilization, acidity or basicity, repeated washings of polycarbonate-based products
or products including an epoxy resin coating lead to a release of BPA65,66,67,68,69,.
Finally, the presence of BPA in drinking water and bath water is another potential source of
exposure70,71. Although BPA is quickly metabolized in the body72, different studies show that
this molecule is present in the blood and fatty tissue of the body, which is proof that the body
is continuously contaminated by BPA73.
BPA, due to its reprotoxic properties, can be classified as a CMR substance. And yet, BPA is
a chemical substance authorized by Commission Directive 2002/72/EC of 6 August 2002
relating to plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs.
Given that BPA is a CMR substance, that there is scientific evidence proving that it
contaminates the body, in accordance with group of measure #1 of the Paris Appeal,
the European Union must withdraw BPA from the market for the manufacturing of
plastic materials intended to come into contact with foodstuffs, i.e., on one hand, to
manufacture baby bottles and stiff water bottles, and on the other hand, inner coatings
for cans of food (refer to Recommendation Measure R-M66 ), and this, all the more as
there are alternative options. The European Union must thus revise directive
2002/72/EC authorizing the use of BPA to manufacture any object intended to come
into contact with foodstuffs.

M54: Mercury.
Mercury and its derivatives are very toxic, in particular for children74 and mostly the fetus
(Refer to Measure M26).

63

Paris F, Balaguer P, Terouanne B, Servant N, Lacoste C, Cravedi JP, Nicolas JC, Sultan C.Phenylphenols,
biphenols, bisphenol-A and 4-tert-octylphenol exhibit alpha and beta estrogen activities and antiandrogen activity
in reporter cell lines. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2002 Jul 31;193(1-2):43-49.
62
Dodds EC, Lawson W. Synthetic oestrogenic agents without the phenanthrene nucleus. Nature 137:996 (1936).
65
Brotons JA, Olea-Serrano MF, Villalobos M, Pedraza V, Olea N. Xenoestrogens released from lacquer coating
in food cans. Environ Health Perspect 103: 608612 1995.
64
Consumers Union. Baby alert: new findings about plastics. Consumer Reports May:2829. 1999.
65
Howdeshell KL, Peterman PH, Judy BM, Taylor JA, Orazio CE, Ruhlen RL, and al. Bisphenol A is released from
used polycarbonate animal cages into water at room temperature. Environ Health Perspect 111:11801187.
2003.
66
Kang JH, Kito K, Kondo F. Factors influencing the migration of bisphenol A from cans. J Food Prot 66:1444
1447. 2003
67
Kang JH, Kondo F. Determination of bisphenol A in canned pet foods. Res Vet Sci 73:177182. 2002.
68
Kawagoshi Y, Fujita Y, Kishi I, Fukunaga I. Estrogenic chemicals and estrogenic activity in leachate from
municipal waste landfill determined by yeast two-hybrid assay. J Environ Monit 5:269274, 2003.
69
Coors A, Jones PD, Giesy JP, Ratte HT. Removal of estrogenic activity from municipal waste landfill leachate
assessed with a bioassay based on reporter gene expression. Environ Sci Technol 37:34303434, 2003.
70
Volkel W, Colnot T, Csanady GA, Filser JG, Dekant W. Metabolism and kinetics of bisphenol A in humans at low
doses following oral administration. Chem Res Toxicol 15:12811287, 2002.
71
Takeuchi T, Tsutsumi O, Ikezuki Y, Takai Y, Taketani Y. Positive relationship between androgen and the
endocrine disruptor, bisphenol A, in normal women and women with ovarian dysfunction. Endocr J 51:165169,
2004.
72
Zero mercury campaign by European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and Ban Hg Working Group. Available at:
http://www.zeromercury.org/

39

In addition to Measure M26 and in accordance with group of measures #2 of the Paris
Appeal, the European Union must urgently and firmly legislate in the field of mercury
contamination and, by virtue of the precautionary principle, ban the marketing of any
products containing mercury, when the latter are intended for the consumers market
on a large scale. In accordance with group of measures #1 of the Paris Appeal, when
the product appears to be essential to society, it may be placed on the market under
certain conditions only, i.e. in the framework of a strict regulation, limiting its use and
strictly guaranteeing waste management after use.

M55: Bromine and its derivatives.

Bromine and its derivatives, polybromobiphenyls (PBBs) and polybromodiphenylethers
(PBDEs) are dangerous substances used as flame-retardants (Refer to Recommendation
Measure R-M59). Bromine is very toxic for the body through contact and absorption. Most of
all, bromine has the property to diffuse in the stratosphere with a potential SDO (Substance
that Depletes the Ozone Layer) much higher than chlorine. Stratospheric bromine emissions
thus play a role in the reduction of the stratospheric ozone layer (Refer to Title V Chapter 3).
Owing to the toxicity of organobrominated derivatives, to the risks of indoor pollution
and, mainly, to the very high reactivity of bromine with stratospheric ozone, the
European Union must ban the marketing and use of all volatile organobromine
compound. Some heavily used organobromine compounds (notably methyl bromide
used as a fumigant) are volatile and atmospherically damaging; other heavily used
organobromine compounds (notably polybromoaromatics used as flame retardants)
are much less volatile but are human and animal health hazards. Both should be
replaced as soon as possible.

Chapter 4 : Regulation on toxic products

M56: Paints and coatings.
Directive 2004/42/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on the
limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds due to the use of organic solvents in
certain paints and varnishes and vehicle refinishing products and amending Directive
1999/13/EC and Commission Directive 89/451/EEC of 17 July 1989 adapting to technical
progress for the third time Council Directive 77/728/EEC on the approximation of the laws,
Regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the classification,
packaging and labeling of paints, varnishes, printing inks, adhesives and similar products are
very incomplete. These directives do not take into account all types of paints on the market
and do not adopt measures intended for private individuals.
In accordance with groups of measures #1 and 2 of the Paris Appeal, the European
Union must institute a harmonized regulation for all Member States, regarding all
types of paints, and establish reinforced standards applicable to professionals, as
well as private individuals. These standards must be established according to criteria
of cumulative toxicity, as indicated in Recommendation R22.

M57: Lead paints.

Lead is a heavy metal that causes acute and mostly chronic toxicities. Prolonged exposure to
lead or its derivatives in the form of chlorides, chromates, carbonates, sulfates, or oxides, is

40

the cause of hematological and renal disruptions, of diseases of the nervous system, of
proven reprotoxicity in animals, as well as in women and men75.
Thus, all scientific data show that lead present in the environment may be the cause of male
infertility76.
Moreover, in 1980 as well as during its updating in 1987, lead and its organic derivatives
were classified by the IARC as probably carcinogenic for man (group 2B). As opposed to
this, lead chromates and arsenates were classified by the IARC as certainly carcinogenic for
man (group 1)77. Lead, and more particularly its inorganic derivatives, are thus CMR
substances.
Council Directive 76/769/EEC of 27 July 1976 on the approximation of the laws, regulations
and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing
and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations, supplemented by Council
Directive 89/677/EEC of 21 December 1989, amending for the eighth time Directive
76/769/EEC, bans the use of lead carbonates and sulfates in the composition of paints.
This directive is very incomplete, as it does not nominally concern all other lead salt, in
particular, chlorides, chromates and oxides. Moreover, surveys conducted by the group of
experts of the Paris Appeal were able to check that Directive 89/677/EEC, even transposed
in national law, was not applied in its whole in certain Member States and that lead paints,
though prohibited for private individuals, were actually still commonly used by professionals.
Owing to the very high toxicity of lead and to the CMR properties of its inorganic
derivatives, in accordance with group of measures #1 of the Paris Appeal, the
European Union must reinforce the ban on the marketing of lead paints, extend it to all
its derivatives and make it mandatory for each Member State to implement this ban,
through a specific directive. Member states must make sure that this ban concerns,
not only private individuals, but also professionals. The European Union must be
particularly careful here and this all the more as alternative options exist.

R-M58: Treatment of indoor wood.

Wood is very sensitive to biological attacks due to insects and fungi. Protection measures
involve the use of bactericides, fungicides and insecticides. Possible products are creosotes
(compound of PAHs78, phenols and cresols resulting from wood pyrolysis),
pentachlorophenol (PCP), formaldehyde, organochlorinated insecticides recognized as
dangerous (hexachlorocyclohexane, aldrine and dieldrine), xylene and certain metals,
including zinc or copper arsenates and chromated copper arsenate.
Most of these products are very toxic and are CMRs.
Several of these products are banned by the European Union for outdoor use, but none of
them is banned for indoor use, whereas certain countries have banned them, including for
indoor use.
Thus, PCPs are banned in the United States and in Sweden, and arsenic-based products are
prohibited in Germany for indoor use.
Using hexachlorocyclohexane, xylene, aldrine and dieldrine is banned by the European
Union in agriculture, but is not banned for other possible use, notably for the treatment of
indoor wood.

75

Joint Inserm assessment: Lead in the environment : What are the risks for health ? 1999. Available at:
http://www.inserm.fr/en/outils/recherche/resultats.jsp
76
Benoff S, Centola GM, Millan C, Napolitano B, Marmar JL, Hurley IR. Increased seminal plasma lead levels
adversely affect the fertility potential of sperm in IVF. Hum Reprod. 2003 Feb;18(2):374-383.
77
IARC (1987) Lead and lead compounds. In : Overall evaluations of carcinogenicity an updating of IARC
monograph volumes 1-42. IARC monographs on the evaluation of the carcinogenic risk of chemicals to humans,
supplement 7 ; Lyon.
78
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.

41

The European Union must legislate on the chemical treatment of indoor wood,
including wood used to manufacture furniture, by means of a specific directive.
The European Union must ban the treatment of indoor wood by creosotes,
formaldehyde (refer to Measure M50), pentachlorophenol (PCP), gammahexachlorocyclohexane (Lindane), xylene, aldrine, dieldrine and copper arsenic- and
chromium-based products, and this all the more as there are alternative options based
on the use of boron, copper naphthenate or by-products of colza oil, such as the
combination of succinic anhydride and methyl unsaturated ester.

R-M59: Brominated flame-retardants.

Brominated flame-retardants are products that are used for their fire-retardant property. They
essentially comprise polybromobiphenyls (PBBs) and polybromodiphenylethers (PBDEs).
These substances are used in numerous manufactured products and objects. They are
components in electronic and electronic equipments. Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and
their chlorinated counterpart PCBs, are structurally comparable but differ for the type of
halogen atom present in the molecule. Thus, theoretically PBBs should have a similar pattern
of toxicity compared to PCBs results in effects that the chlorinebromine substitution.
However, the planar PBBs are most toxic as they bind to the Ah receptor.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), as a result of their widespread use and
lipophilicity, are ubiquitous in the environment and accumulate in the adipose tissues of
organisms.. Although PBDEs bear strong common chemical and toxicologic properties with
PCBs79,80, no human health studies have been conducted on PBDEs. However, in vivo and in
vitro animal studies show nervous system, reproductive and developmental effects, as well
as cancers. PBDEs are reported to be antagonists of thyroid hormones81,82,83,84.The
increasing presence of PBDEs in human tissue is of particular concern because of their
association with endocrine disruption,85,86,87,88,89,90 reproductive and developmental toxicity,

79

Birnbaum L, Staskal D. Brominated flame retardants: cause for concern? Environ Health Perspect. 2003;112: 9
17.
80
Darnerud P, Eriksen G, Johannesson T, Larsen P, Viluksela M. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers: occurrence,
dietary exposure and toxicology. Environ Health Perspect. 2001; 109(suppl 1):4968.
81
. Hallgren S, Darnerud P. Effects of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
and chlorinated paraffins (CPs) on thyroid hormone levels and enzyme activities in rats. Organohalogen Compd.
1998; 35: 391394.
82
Hallgren S, Darnerud P. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and
chlorinated paraffins (CPs) in ratstesting interactions and mechanisms for thyroid hormone effect. Toxicology.
2002; 177: 227243.
83
Hall A, Kalantzi O, Thomas G. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in grey seals during their first year of
lifeare they thyroid hormone endocrine disruptors? Environ Pollut. 2003; 126: 29 37.
84
Legler J, Cenijin P, Malmbenrg T, Bergman A, Brouwer A. Determination of the endocrine disrupting potency of
hydroxylated PCBs and flame retardants with in vitro bioassays. Organohalogen Compd. 2002; 56: 5356.
85
. Hallgren S, Darnerud P. Effects of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
and chlorinated paraffins (CPs) on thyroid hormone levels and enzyme activities in rats. Organohalogen Compd.
1998; 35: 391394.
86
Hallgren S, Darnerud P. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and
chlorinated paraffins (CPs) in ratstesting interactions and mechanisms for thyroid hormone effect. Toxicology.
2002; 177: 227243.
87
Gillner M, Jakobsson E. Structureaffinity relationships for thyroid and dioxin receptor binding of halogenated
naphthalenes and diphenylethers. Organohalogen Compd. 1996; 29: 220 221.
88
Meerts I, Letcher R, Hoving S, Marsh G, Bergman A, Lemmen JG, van der Burg B, Brouwer A. In vitro
estrogenicity of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, hydroxylated PDBEs, and polybrominated bisphenol A
compounds. Environ Health Perspect. 2001; 109: 399407.
89
Meerts I, Assink Y, Cenijn P, Van Den Berg JH, Weijers BM, Bergman A, Koeman JH, Brouwer A. Placental
transfer of a hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyl and effects on fetal and maternal thyroid hormone
homeostasis in the rat. Toxicol Sci. 2002; 68: 361371.
90
Morse D, Groen D, Veerman M, van Amerongen CJ; Koeter HBWM; Smits van Prooije AE; Visser TJ; Koeman
JH; Brouwer A. Interference of polybrominated biphenyls in hepatic and brain thyroid hormone metabolism in fetal
and neonatal rats. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 1993; 22: 2733.

42

including neurotoxicity, 91,92,93,94,95 and cancers in rodents96. And recently, Schecter and coll,
have observed the transfer of PBDEs from maternal to fetal tissue97.
In compliance with Measure M55 and owing to the extremely serious impact of
bromine on stratospheric ozone and health impact of brominated flame-retardants, all
brominated flame-retardants must be banned from the market and their use
prohibited.

R-M60: Electrical and electronic appliances.

Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on
the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic
equipment aims at eliminating dangerous substances, including brominated flame-retardants
(PBBs and PBDEs) , from garbage dumps.
In accordance with this directive, since 1 July 2006, the marketing of all electrical and
electronic equipments containing lead, mercury, hexavalent chlorine, cadmium, PBBs and
PBDEs has been prohibited. In order for the product to meet requirements, none of the
uniform matter (simple substances) entering the composition of the product must contain one
or the other of these substances at a higher concentration than the established maximum
concentration values.
Unfortunately, Directive RoHS suffers from many exemptions and does not apply to spare
parts intended for repairs of electrical or electronic appliances marketed prior to 1 July 2006,
nor to their re-use.
Owing to the toxicity of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and to the
difficulty to manage electrical and electronic wastes, the European Union must
reinforce directive RoHS. It must reinforce the ban on the marketing of bromine and its
derivatives, and extend the directive to spare parts and obsolete products. Finally and
most of all, the European Union must limit dispensations and exemptions.

R-M61: Ban on brominated products.

Owing to the potentially very serious dangers related to bioaccumulation of brominated
flame-retardants, the European Parliament and the Council must maintain the ban on
DecaBDE (Decabromo-diphenylether) and should in no way come back on this ban,
contrarily to what the Commission proposed on 6 June 2005 for electrical and electronic
equipments, thanks to the comitology procedure (yet, this ban had been adopted in 2003 for
various reasons related to environmental issues caused by this substance).

91

Birnbaum L, Staskal D. Brominated flame retardants: cause for concern? Environ Health Perspect. 2003; 112: 9
17.
92
Branchi I, Alleva E, Costa L. Effects of perinatal exposure to a polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE 99) on
mouse neurobehavioural development. Neurotoxicology. 2002; 23: 375384.
93
Branchi I, Capone F, Alleva E, Costa L. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers: neurobehavioral effects following
developmental exposure. Neurotoxicology. 2003; 24: 449462.
94
Eriksson P, Viberg H, Jakobsson E, Orn U, Fredriksson A. A brominated flame retardant, 2,2_,4,4_,5pentabromodiphenyl ether: uptake, retention, and induction of neurobehavioral alterations in mice during a critical
phase of neonatal brain development. Toxicol Sci. 2002; 67: 98103.
95
Viberg H, Fredriksson A, Eriksson P. Neonatal exposure to the brominated flame retardant, 2,2_,4,4_,5pentabrominated ether, decrease cholinergic nicotinic receptors in hippocampus and affects spontaneous
behavior in the adult mouse. Environ Toxicol Pharmacol. 2004; 17: 61 65.
96
NTP. 1986. Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies of Decabromodiphenyl Oxide (CAS No. 116319-5) in
F344/N Rats and B6C3F1 Mice (Feed Studies). TR-309. Research Triangle Park, NC: National Toxicology
Program. Available at: http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0035.htm#reforal. Accessed December, 2006.
97
Schecter A, Johnson-Welch S, Tung KC, Harris TR, Papke O, Rosen R. Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE)
levels in livers of U.S. human fetuses and newborns. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2007; 70(1): 1-6.

43

According to Measure M55 and Recommendation-Measure R-M59, brominated fireretardants must be urgently terminated and all new TV sets, computers and other
electrical and electronic equipments containing brominated flame-retardants must be
banned in the EU. Moreover, following the example of certain Member States, such as
Italy, the European Union must make it compulsory for each Member State to set up a
special recycling system for old electrical or electronic appliances and a specific
treatment procedure regarding all their brominated components.

R-M62: Cosmetic products.

Approximately 9,000 chemical substances are regularly used by the cosmetic industry. Some
of them, although presenting harmful effects, are used at low dose, according to current
regulations. The Environmental Working Group analyzed 7,500 chemical substances, used
as ingredients in the formulation of cosmetic products.
This showed that 99% of these substances had not been assessed in terms of toxicity98. And
yet, the skin is a major entry point in the body for a great number of toxic chemical
substances, induced effects being felt in the body at a distance from the point of impact on
the skin, and this, in a cumulative way.
Council Directive 76/768/EEC of 27 July 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the
Member States relating to cosmetic products established rules regarding the composition,
labeling and packaging of cosmetic products is the basis of regulation for marketing cosmetic
products. However, although this directive and its appendixes has been supplemented and
amended by ten or so other directives, and though in appendix, 400 substances have been
banned, it remains very incomplete.
Moreover, for reasons of industrial secret, this directive involves no precise labeling of all
ingredients used, but only their list in descending order. Thus, perfume and aromatic
compositions are only mentioned by the words perfumes and aromas.
The European Union and the Member States must only place on the market cosmetic
products having gone through a control and authorization process comparable to that
used for medicines. The European Union must therefore assess the toxicity of all
cosmetic products placed on the market, as it does for any medicines, and ban the
use of all CMR substances that they contain. Consequently, the European Union must
ban the use of aldehydes, in particular formaldehyde, phthalates and glycol ethers,
and other CMR substances used in the manufacturing of cosmetic products, and must
set, as a rule, labeling of all ingredients used.

R63: Commonly used products.

The dangerousness of commonly used products, in particular cleaning products, has not
been clearly established from a scientific viewpoint for a great number of them. However,
some of them cause allergies or skin or respiratory intolerances, notably in cleaning staff.
Moreover, certain products could have an impact on indoor air pollution (Refer to Title V
Chapter 4)
The European Union must legislate in the field of commonly used products. It must
establish a full list of household products on the market, analyze their composition in
order to check that they do not contain any CMR substances, and assess, product by
product, the allergies and intolerances likely to be caused, according to scientific data
available and toxicity statements carried out under medical control. The European
Union must lay down standards of doses and of maximum time for use and make sure
users are warned through appropriate labeling.

98

Available at : http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep2/findings/index.php

44

All allergy cases or skin or respiratory intolerances, occurring in a user and which
appear to be related to the use of a commonly used product, must be medically
notified. All the cases must be registered with a specific organization at the level of
each Member State in the Union. In case of known toxicity, the European Union must
withdraw the product used. Each Member State of the European Union must thus set
up a specific watch organization and the European Union, an organization to
centralize all data.

R64: Taxation of non recyclable products and packaging.

The lifecycle of a product intended for marketing must be assessed. This assessment must
be part of a marketing file, as marketing a product requires to manage after-use wastes that
result from it and therefore generates costs. The same thing applies to packaging.
The European Union must make sure that, except in specific cases, any product or
packaging placed on the market can be recycled. After-use waste management costs
of products and packaging being in most cases paid for by the state, these costs
should be covered by a tax on products and packaging placed on the market. When
recycling is not possible, management fees of wastes paid by society must be
deducted from the retail cost of the product after its marketing, in the form of a tax.

Chapter 5 : Foodstuff regulation.

R-M65: Nutritional quality of foods.
The increase of obesity does not concern only children. It concerns the whole population.
According to the Report of the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), issued in March
2005, weight problems (obesity and overweight) in Europe are alarming. Overweight and
obesity are steadily increasing in the whole EU. Though under-estimated for a long time,
overweight and obesity could concern over 200 million adults, that is to say 45% of the
population. The report99 points out: In parts of Europe, the combination of reported
overweight and obesity in men exceeds even the 67% prevalence found in the USAs most
recent measured survey. Even if, in all likelihood, several factors are involved in this
epidemic of overweight and obesity, such as the settled way of life that directly derives from
consumers behavior and town and country planning policies, it is practically certain that the
current food offer contributes to it in an important way. Indeed, a great number of processed
foods has a much too high calorie content due to the massive addition of sugar and fats.
Furthermore, these products often contain too much salt and too few vitamins and minerals,
thus contributing to food imbalance. This may cause not only the onset of overweight and
obesity, but also pathologies as frequent as type-2 diabetes, hypercholesterolemia,
hypertension, renal calculus or osteoporosis100.
The European Union and the Member States must legislate in the field of nutritional
quality of foodstuffs (energetic density and nutritional quality) intended for
consumers, ban the marketing of manufactured products assessed to cause food
imbalance, after consulting a panel of independent scientific experts specialized in
nutrition, organize frequent controls, make sure foodstuffs comply with allegations
and sanction any abuse.

99

IOTF - International Obesity Task Force - mars 2005 : http://www.iotf.org/

Technical report n916 of the Joint committee FAO/WH O on diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic
diseases, 2003.

100

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R-M66: Packaging of foodstuffs.

The purpose of food packaging is to contain foods, to protect them against contaminations
and to preserve them from the outside air. In reality, a molecular transfer from the packaging
to the food may occur. Council Directive 89/109/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the
approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to materials and articles intended to
come into contact with foodstuffs specifies that the rate of substances released from the
packaging may in no way harm the consumers health. This is not scientifically founded for all
released substances.
1. Plastic packaging. Plastic packaging is manufactured from polymers, and during the
manufacturing process, certain monomers may not fix themselves on the polymer. Moreover,
to improve the quality of the polymer, i.e. make it softer and non-sensitive to ultraviolet rays
or to color it, manufacturers add additives that may also come off the polymer. Therefore,
when foods come into direct contact with packaging, monomers or additives may migrate to
foods and contaminate them. Contamination of foods may have organoleptic or toxicological
consequences.
Commission Directive 2002/72/EC of 6 August 2002 relating to plastic materials and articles
intended to come into contact with foodstuffs establishes a list of authorized components.
This directive aims at protecting the consumers health, by making it possible to balance the
improvement of foodstuffs conservation and the reduction of contaminations through the
migration of packaging components. However, the list of authorized components comprises
numerous potentially CMR substances and the list of additives is not complete.
2. Inner coating of cans of food. Cans of food protect foodstuffs during transport and against
variations of the outside environment. However, metal is not inert. It comes into direct contact
with foods and in an acid environment, undergoes different chemical reactions, leading to the
production of ions or metal particles that may be toxic. To remedy this problem, inner
coatings have been developed.
However, these coatings contain epoxydic compounds : bisphenol A diglycidyl ether
(BADGE), bisphenol F diglycidyl ether (BFDGE) and novolac glycidyl ether (NOGE) that tend
to migrate to cans101,102,103.
Biphenol A (BPA) contained in the epoxydic compound BADGE is an endocrine disrupter
classified in the group of CMR substances due to its reprotoxic properties.
The use of the BADGE molecule was banned on 31 December 2005 through Directive
2002/16/EC, but the Regulation (EC) #1895/2005 that abrogates it authorized its use again.
And yet, bisphenol A is a CMR substance (refer to measure M53), and the BADGE molecule
itself is an endocrine disrupter104,105.
However, after analyzing toxicological data given for this group of substances, the European
Food and Safety Agency (EFSA) concluded that BADGE did not present any carcinogenic
and genotoxic risk in vivo106, which is insufficient due to its the reprotoxic properties of this
molecule and the BPA it contains.

101

Cottier S., Riquet A. M., Feigenbaum A., Pollet B., Lapierre C. and Mortreuil P. Identification of potential
migrants from vinylic organosol varnish by gas chromatography - mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, J. Chromatogr. A 771, 366-373, 1997.
102
Biedermann M., Bronz M., Brchler B., Grob K., Keller F., Neukom H. P., Richard N. and Spinner C. Reaction
products of bisphenol-A-diglycidyl ether (BADGE) and bisphenol-F-diglycidyl ether (BFDGE) with hydrochloric
acid and water in canned food with aqueous matrix, Mitt. Lebensm. Hyg. 90, 177-194, 1999.
103
Simoneau C., Theobald A., Hannaert P., Roncari P., Roncari A., Rudolph T. and Anklam E. Monitoring of
bisphenol-A-diglycidyl-ether (BADGE) in canned fish in oil, Food Add. Contam. 16, 189-195, 1999.
104
Terasaki M, Kazama T, Shiraishi F, Makino M. Identification and estrogenic characterization of impurities in
commercial bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE). Chemosphere. 2006 Oct;65(5):873-880.
105
Satoh K, Ohyama K, Aoki N, Iida M, Nagai F. Study on anti-androgenic effects of bisphenol a diglycidyl ether
(BADGE), bisphenol F diglycidyl ether (BFDGE) and their derivatives using cells stably transfected with human
androgen receptor, AR-EcoScreen. Food Chem Toxicol. 2004 Jun;42(6):983-993.
106
Available at: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/fr/in_focus/nutrition_health.html

46

The European Union, in compliance with group of measures #2 of the Paris Appeal,
must ban any additive presenting CMR properties, used in plastic objects intended for
foodstuffs. Moreover, in accordance with group of measures #1 of the Paris Appeal,
the European Union must ban the use of the BADGE molecule in coatings intended for
cans of food.

R67: Advertising and labeling of foodstuffs.

Foodstuff labeling is governed by Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 20 March 2000 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating
to the labeling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs, amended by Directive 2003/89/EC.
This directive applies to pre-packaged foodstuffs intended to be delivered to consumers and
organizations.
The European Union must reinforce Directive 2000/13/EC banning any advertising
involving a nutritional imbalance or contributing to it, and particularly any advertising
aimed at children. Any advertising concerning health, and more specifically food,
must be previously reviewed by an independent committee of scientific experts,
specialized in nutrition. Any advertising that has not been scientifically validated, and
thus approved by such a committee of experts, must be banned.

R68: Nutritional allegations.

Consumers are greatly influenced by nutritional and health allegations mentioned on
foodstuff packaging. Based on the Proposal on nutrition and health claims made on foods
(COM(2003)424 final), the European Parliament and the Council are considering a future
European legislation establishing specific nutritional profiles (amounts of sugar, salt, fats :
saturated fatty acids, trans-fatty acids).
These nutritional profiles will need to be strictly followed by agro-food sector industrialists so
that their products can be authorized to mention any type of nutritional allegation. The
adoption of such a regulation by the Council should take place in 2006, and its enforcement,
after a transitory period of 2 to 3 years.
The European Union must make sure that nutritional allegations are authorized after
consultation and verification by a panel of experts specialized in nutrition and acting
independently and must speed up the implementation of this Regulation by reducing
the transitory time proposed.

R-M69: Food additives. Revision of directive 89/107/EEC in the form of a regulation.

Food additives are defined by Council Directive 89/107/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the
approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning food additives authorized for use
in foodstuffs intended for human consumption.
For the purposes of this Directive food additive' means any substance not normally
consumed as a food in itself and not normally used as a characteristic ingredient of food
whether or not it has nutritive value, the intentional addition of which to food for a
technological purpose in the manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packaging,
transport or storage of such food results, or may be reasonably expected to result, in it or its
by-products becoming directly or indirectly a component of such foods.
Additives are split in five groups : coloring agents (E1), preservatives (E2), anti-oxidants (E3),
texture agents (E4) and other additives (E5 or more), including notably sweeteners, flavor
enhancers, acidifiers, and so on. In Europe, the use of additives is regulated according to the
positive lists principle: in other words, any additive that is not registered on the list is
authorized.

47

The fifty-sixth Report of the joint FAO/WHO committee concerning the assessment of food
additives107 estimates that some of them present allergenic risks, that others are toxic, and
finally that for others, toxicological data are not sufficient.
Given that food additives are used at low dose, repeatedly, over a prolonged period of time,
one should not only take into account data of acute toxicity, but essentially data of chronic
toxicity, in accordance with scientific consideration #2 (CS2) in Title 1 of the Memorandum.
And yet, for most additives currently on the market, chronic toxicity data do not exist or are
insufficient.
To this, we need to add the fact that certain foodstuffs contain a very important number of
additives of different categories and that, in accordance with scientific consideration #3
(CS3), the synergistic action of several additives generates magnified toxic effects.
Finally, owing to the very broad distribution and consumption of foodstuffs on the market, of
the important number and of the diversity of food additives used, of their different chemical
properties, of their possible presence in great amounts in the same food, there is no way
epidemiological studies can answer scientifically and accurately the question of long-term
sanitary effects induced by food additives for the whole population. We therefore have to
consider essentially toxicological studies, which urgently requires to reinforce the
toxicological file in the process of marketing authorization of food additives. Moreover, if the
utilitarian goal aimed at in food additives and in drugs differs, additives are substances that
are comparable on all scores to a drug, due to the way they are introduced and their
biological effects on the body.
IT IS UNACCEPTABLE TODAY, FROM A SCIENTIFIC VIEWPOINT, THAT THE
MARKETING AUTHORIZATION OF FOOD ADDITIVES IS ONLY REGULATED IN THE
FRAMEWORK OF THE PRINCIPLE OF POSITIVE LISTS AND THAT IT IS NOT
SUBMITTED TO MUCH STRICTER PROCEDURES, REQUIRING A VERY
COMPREHENSIVE TOXICOLOGICAL FILE, STATING NOTABLY THE POTENTIAL
LONG-TERM CMR EFFECTS RELATED TO REPEATED LOW DOSES.
A new procedure of marketing authorization for food additives must thus be defined and
implemented, not only to those about to be placed on the market, but also for those that are
already on the market.
The European Union must fully review the legislation as regards food additives. It
must limit the total number of authorized additives, limit the total number used in each
foodstuff placed on the market and, most of all, set up a procedure of marketing
authorization for each additive, following the same process as those used for
medicines.

R-M70: Plant-protection products, pesticides. Revision of directive 91/414/EEC in the

form of a regulation.
The term pesticides is used for any substance that can control or destroy living organisms,
i.e. germs, plants or animals, considered to be harmful to human activities and in particular to
agricultural development.
One should clearly make a distinction between natural pesticides and artificial pesticides;
the first ones being naturally detoxified by the body, while the second ones have the property
to accumulate in tissue, in particular fatty tissue108 and/or to persist in the environment.
Many scientific studies show that artificial pesticides are toxic for the environment and human
health, in particular for the embryo, the fetus and young children, through a direct action of

107

Available at:
http://search.who.int/search?ie=utf8&lr=lang_fr&site=default_collection&client=WHO&proxystylesheet=french&out
put=xml_no_dtd&oe=utf8&q=additifs+alimentaires
108
Howard CV, Newby JA. Could the Increase in Cancer Incidence be Related to Recent Environmental
Changes? In Cancer as an Environmental Disease. auth/eds P Nicolopolou-Stamati, L Hens, CV Howard and N
Van Larebeke. Kluwer Academic Publishers. 2004.

48

an active substance or through the direct or indirect action of the additives they contain, or
else of the products of their degradation in the body or in the environment109,110,111,112,113.
Moreover, the formulation of the product may potentialize the toxicity of the active
substance114.
Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991 concerning the placing of plant protection
products on the market deals with the assessment of pesticides active materials and of their
marketing. This directive is incomplete and does not correspond to current scientific
knowledge. Moreover, it is insufficient (Refer to Recommendation R33).
Within the framework of a thematic strategy on the sustainable use of pesticides, the
Commission proposed on 12 July 2006 a new directive to the European Parliament and to
the Council establishing a frame to community action in order to reach a sustainable use of
pesticides. This directive contains new measures, including the implementation of national
action plans, the creation of a training system for professional users In fact, a regulation
revising the above mentioned directive 91/414/EEC should be promoted, which would
include all the measures regarding the cutbacks on pesticide use and reliance and the
protection of people likely to be contaminated.
Owing to the inadequacy of Council Directive 91/414/EEC, and to the fact it is not
suited to the serious health issues which the different Member States are currently
facing, given the CMR properties of many currently marketed pesticides, in
accordance with groups of measures #1 and 2 of the Paris Appeal, the European
Union must fully review the very principle of Council Directive 91/414/EEC.
Considering the precautionary principle and combating environmental pollution at
source, it must reinforce the marketing authorization procedure of pesticides and
entirely re-assess, from the biological and toxicological viewpoint, all pesticides
currently on the market, at the sanitary and environmental level.

R-M71: Ban on the marketing and use of imidaclopride and fipronil.

Due to a specificity of insufficient action, imidaclopride and fipronil used as pesticides in
agriculture have been proven to be toxic for bees, leading to their deaths, as well as for many
other animals, whose mortality has risen (birds, small mammals, sea animals).
The use of imidaclopride was banned in several Member states, including France, due to its
very high toxicity, in particular for bees, which is unacceptable as regards the terms of
Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991, relating to the marketing of
phytopharmaceutical products and notably as regards its appendix VI, concerning the
regular principles that Member States need to follow to authorize a product. Imidaclopride is
currently being re-assessed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Fipronil has just
been re-assessed by EFSA and, according to the report of 3 March 2006, would present no
danger to flora and fauna, in particular for bees, in the new terms of formalization and use of
the product. This report, though very well documented, is however inadequate as far as
toxicity for bees is concerned. It is clear that fipronil is in vivo extremely toxic for bees on

109

Davis DL, Gottlieb MB, Stampnitzky JR. Reduced ratio of male to female births in several industrial countries :
A sentinel health indicator? JAMA. 279(13):1018-2103, 1998.
110
Arbuckle TE, Lin Z, Mery LS. An exploratory analysis of the effect of pesticide exposure on the risk of
spontaneous abortion in an Ontario farm population. Environ Health Perspect.109(8):851-857, 2001.
111
Greenlee AR, Arbuckle TE, Chyou PH. Chyou.Risk Factors for Female Infertility in an Agricultural Region.
Epidemiology 14:429-436, 2003.
112
Sanborn M, Cole D, Kerr K, Vakil C, Sanin LH, Bassil K. Pesticides literature review. Toronto, Ontario College
of Family Physicians, 2004. Available at :
http://www.ocfp.on.ca/local/files/Communications/Current%20Issues/Pesticides/Final%20Paper%2023APR2004.p
df
113
Schettler, T., Stein, J., Reich, F., Valenti, M., & Wallinga, D. (2000). In harms way: Toxic threats to child
development. Cambridge, MA: Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility.
114
Richard S, Moslemi S, Sipahutar H, Benachour N, Seralini GE. Differential effects of glyphosate and roundup
on human placental cells and aromatase. Environ Health Perspect. 2005 Jun;113(6):716-720.

49

contact, that the three studies mentioned in the report testing the effect of fipronil are
insufficient, that they were not carried out in the strict conditions of Council Directive
91/414/EEC, that they do not clear fipronil as regards bee mortality and that, consequently,
by virtue of the precautionary principle, fipronil, as well as imidaclopride, must be withdrawn
from the market.
The European Union must ban the marketing of pesticides imidaclopride and fipronil
and make sure they are not used, not only in all EU Member States, but also in any
extra European territory governed by them, given the damage caused in apiculture.

M72: Remedying the loss related to imidaclopride and fipronil.

Considering the polluter pays principle, beekeepers whose hives were decimated by
one of these 2 pesticides (imidaclopride or fipronil) must obtain compensations for
the economic damage caused.

R-M73: Pesticide residue in foods. New procedures for the marketing authorization of
pesticides.
Regulation (EC) N 396/2005 of the Parliament and the Council, of 23 February, 2005,
concerning the maximum residue limits (MRL) of pesticides in plant or animal products
establishes the maximum amounts of pesticide residues authorized that can be found in
animal or plant products designed for human or animal consumption.
However, given that pesticide residue, though at low dose, is ingested repeatedly, over a
prolonged period of time, setting maximum amounts authorized, such as recommended by
the previous regulation, does not protect people against a long-term sanitary effect of
pesticides. And yet, it is now a fact that pesticide residue contents in fruits, vegetables and
cereals have increased in Europe since 1997115. This is what the European Commission (DG
SANCO) points out in its latest report116 referring to year 2004, drawn up in particular from
control reports carried out by Member States. It has now been proven by many scientific
studies that organochlorinated or organophosphorous pesticides are toxic for children, that
organochlorinated pesticides may induce congenital malformations117 and diseases, such as
sterility and cancers, that organophosphorous pesticides may induce learning difficulties or
diseases of the nervous system118,119, that both of these pesticides may cause
allergies120,121 (Refer to Recommendation R33),

115

The percentage of residue-free samples went from 60% in 1997 to 53% in 2004. The percentage of the
sample that showed a residue content equal to or lower than the residue threshold limit was 37% in 1997
compared to 40% in 2004. Furthermore, the percentage of samples exceeding MRLs was 3% in 1997 compared
to 5% in 2004. The percentage of samples showing multiple residues was 15.5% in 1997, but 23.4% in 2004. As
for baby foods, only 92% of samples showed no residue and 2. 7% showed values exceeding specifically set
MRLs .
116
Annual reports on the monitoring of pesticide residue in Europe. Available at :
http://ec.europa.eu/food/fvo/specialreports/pesticides_index_en.htm
117
Bell, I.Hertz-Piccioto and JJ Beaumont, a case control study of pesticides and fetal death due to congenital
anomalies. Epidemiology, 2001,12: 148-156.
118
Sanborn, MS. et al. Systematic Review of Pesticide Human Health Effects. Ontario College of Family
Physicians. April, 2004. Available at :
http://www.ocfp.on.ca/English/OCFP/Communications/Publications/default.asp?s=1
119
Solomon G. et al. Pesticides and Human Health: A Resource for Health Professionals. A peer-reviewed report
by Physicians for Social Responsibility (LA and Greater Bay Area chapters) and Californians for Pesticide
Reform. 2000. Available on-line at: http://www.psrla.org/pesthealthmain.htm
120
Underner M, Cazenave F, Patte F. Occupational asthma in the rural environment. Rev Pneumonol Clin. 1987,
43:26-35.
121
Reigart JR, Roberts JR. 1999. Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings, Fifth Edition. U.S. EPA
735-R-98-003, March

50

In compliance with groups of measures #1 and 2 of the Paris Appeal, any pesticide
presenting CMR properties must be banned from the market. The marketing of any
pesticide must be submitted to a procedure similar to that used for medicines, which
implies the obligation to file a marketing request comprising in-depth and properly
documented biological, toxicological and epidemiological studies, as is the case for
the marketing authorization of medicines. Finally, in compliance with measures 1, 2, 3
and 4 of the Paris Appeal, the European Union must reinforce Regulation (EC) N
396/2005 and monitor its implementation. It must set lower maximum residue limits
(MRL) taking into account the presence of several pesticides in the same product, of
their possible potentialization and of the particular sensitivity of the embryo, the fetus
(pregnant women) and children. The European Union must implement integrated plans
to decrease significantly pesticide reliance and consequently, their use.

M74: Applicability of the new marketing procedures for pesticides.

Owing to the extreme severity and large number of their toxic effects on human
health, in particular in children and the environment, and of the urgency of the
situation, in accordance with groups of measures #1 and 2 of the Paris Appeal, the
European Union must apply new marketing procedures for pesticides as soon as
possible, not only in case of new marketing requests, but also for all pesticides
already on the market.

M75: Sanctions regarding the use of prohibited pesticides or the non-compliance to

authorized doses.
The experts of the Paris Appeal were able to confirm that, in certain EU Member States,
producers involved in the agricultural sectors of fruits and vegetables, in particular, still used
pesticides that had been banned for several years by the European Union and that the
residue rates for authorized pesticides were sometimes 100 to 500 times over authorized
thresholds. Owing to the extreme severity and multitude of their toxic effects on human
health, in particular in children, and on the environment and of the urgency of the situation,
the European Commission must not grant any exemption, nor temporary
dispensation, to the ban on the use of a pesticide withdrawn from the market. For the
time being, it must therefore eliminate as quickly as possible current dispensations
regarding pesticides that are assessed as requiring to be withdrawn from the market,
due to their toxicity, carry out inspections and a precise survey on the use of
pesticides in the Union by performing appropriate assays on marketed products. It
must firmly sanction Member States that do not enforce the ban on the use of
pesticides and whose products contain abnormally high pesticide residue.

51

Title V- Air, water and soil pollution

Air, water and soil pollution are strongly interconnected elements. Each of these sectors can
contaminate or be contaminated by polluted waters, while waters and soils can be
contaminated by polluted air.

Chapter 1: General considerations about air pollution

Most pollutants are to be found in the air: they fall under seven categories:
Particulate matter (PM): these exist as micro or macroparticulate matter with variable
molecular weight: ranging from particles (PM 10) to fine particles (PM 2.5) or nanoparticles.
Atmospheric aerosols can have a direct impact on the body especially when they are
composed of heavy metalsor an indirect one, because of the chemical (hydrocarbons,
pesticides, allergens, etc) or physical agents (radioactive substances) they may carry.
Heavy metals (cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, nickel, lead, zinc), as well as arsenic
and selenium in excessive amounts, essentially come from the combustion of fossil fuels,
and mainly of heavy fuel oil, from the metallurgy of ferrous or non-ferrous metals, from
various types of chemical industries, the glass industry, or from products placed on the
market or waste incineration.
Volatile organic compounds (VOC) and other related molecules cover a vast range of
substances including volatile polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and many other
volatile substances discharged by the industry or contained in manufactured products placed
on the market (paint, solvent, glue, household products, etc.) These compounds are released
into the air under the effect of heat. 50 to 300 are listed and can be found mainly in
professional, public or residential buildings. Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde are generally
not considered as VOCs. However, due to their features, they are often associated to them.
Volatile oxides essentially include sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX), and carbon
monoxide (CO). All these oxides result from the total or partial combustion of fossil fuels. SO2
emissions are due to the use of sulfuric fossil fuels (oil refineries, thermal power stations,
diesel engines). NOX emissions, including NO2, essentially come from the production and
agricultural use of nitrogen fertilizers. CO emissions are due to an incomplete combustion,
primarily through road, maritime or air traffic (exhaust fumes).
Excessive presence of natural atmospheric gases: this group of contaminants includes gases
naturally present in the atmosphere at very low levels, but which today occur in increased
amounts, as a consequence of human activities. Naturally occurring greenhouse gases
(GHGs) include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), ozone (O3), and
ammonia (NH3). The increase in CO2 results from the global rise in fossil energy use; that in
methane is primarily due to coal burning and breeding. Rising amounts of N2O arise from the
use of nitrogen fertilizers as well as road, maritime or air traffic; those of NH3 from agricultural
activities, and those of ozone from complex reactions (such as photodissociation) involving
nitrogen oxides(NOX) and carbon oxide (CO).
Carbons and other halogen or sulfur compounds: this group of contaminants is very
heterogeneous. It includes chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which have now been banned,
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and sulfur
dihydrogen (H2S). CFCs were to be found in common consumer goods (such as fire
extinguishers, propellants or refrigerants). HFCs, HCFCs (now used instead of CFCs), and

52

PFCs are used in semiconductor manufacturing. Yet they are GHGs, as are SF6, which are
used to manufacture many electrical devices. As for H2S, far more toxic than SO2, it is mainly
discharged by oil refineries, paper pulp manufacturing factories and garbage dumps.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) consist of many substances. Some, such as PAHs,
come from fossil fuel combustion; others are present on the market, such as many
organochlorinated or organophosphorous compounds used in agriculture as pesticides, while
others, such as furan, dioxin or Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), are by-products of waste
incineration.
Some of these pollutants are GHGs or deplete the stratospheric ozone layer. Moreover, most
of them also have a direct poisonous effect on the human body, such as an increase in
cardiovascular mortality related to PM10 particles, diseases of the respiratory mucous
membrane caused by numerous pollutants, CMR effects of PAHs and some heavy metals, or
the role of VOCs in the onset of certain cancers

Chapter 2: Outdoor air pollution

Outdoor air pollution is primarily due to three categories of human activities: road, air and
maritime traffic, industries, and waste incineration.
Three main types of pollutants are to be found in the troposphere: dust, VOCs, and metal
(heavy metals) and non-metal gases.
As stated in the first article of the Paris Appeal, these pollutants could actually be responsible
for the development of many current diseases: cardiovascular diseases, cancers, infertility,
diseases of the nervous system, allergies
In addition to this, these pollutants may actually endanger the very survival of human
populations, because of the production of greenhouse gases which is primarily due to the
combustion of fossil fuels (coal industry, traffic) and to agriculture; and also because of the
depletion of the ozone layer, which is in turn due to the continued production and use of
volatile chlorinated and brominated substances.
AS PUT FORWARD IN THE PARIS APPEAL IN ARTICLE 3, THESE TWO TYPES OF
EFFECTS OF POLLUTION GREENHOUSE EFFECT AND OZONE LAYER DEPLETION
BOTH ENDANGER THE HUMAN RACE.

2.1 Atmospheric dust

R-M76: Particles PM 2.5 and PM 10. The inadequacy of the CAFE directive proposal.
Both the Clean Air For Europe program and the CAFE Directive proposal of the Council and
the European Parliament regarding the quality of ambient air and a clean air for Europe
(COM(2005)447) aim at establishing an integrated and long term strategy regarding
atmospheric pollution, in order to protect human health and the environment.
The Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament
COM(2005)446: Thematic Strategy on air pollution set out objectives for the restriction of
certain pollutants and the reinforcement of EC laws regarding the fight against atmospheric
pollution and the integration of air quality-related concerns into other policies and programs.
In Europe, according to estimates, 480,000 premature deaths occur annually as a
consequence of outdoor atmospheric pollution specifically related to particles. A healthy
outdoor air is therefore essential, and the first measure to implement is to reduce dust
emissions, in accordance with the principle of reducing environmental pollution at source.
The CAFE directive is certainly much more specific than Council Directive 96/62/EC of 27
September 1996 on ambient air quality assessment and management, but it remains by far
insufficient from a scientific point of view. Limit values recommended by the CAFE air quality
directive are significantly higher than the actual limits to be adopted in order to protect EU

53

urban populations from PM-related diseases, notably cardio-respiratory ones, and from
resulting premature mortality. Indeed, for particles under 10m in diameter (PM10),
recommended normative values do not take into account naturally occurring aerosols, which
implies a significant weakening of current standards, as recommended by the Commission
Directive 1999/50/EC of 25 May 1999. Likewise, for fine particles (under 2.5 m in diameter
(PM2.5)), the most harmful to health, the annual average limit value should be 10g/m3 as
recommended by the WHO, at most 15g/m3 as is the case in the United States, whereas in
the proposed directive, it is set at a significantly higher level, over 20g/m3.
The European Union must legislate on air quality by setting standards that take
current international scientific data into consideration, and in accordance with WHO
recommendations. In its current phrasing, the CAFE directive is inappropriate to
address the health issues related to outdoor air pollution due to dust in the Member
States of the Union. The limit values of this directive must be revised and lowered.

2.2 Road, air and maritime traffic

M77: Electrification of public transport.
The significant increase in road, air and maritime traffic over the past 25 years is a major
cause of atmospheric pollution. The latter is primarily due to the use of fossil fuels derived
from oil. Because Europe is a densely populated area, its populations are particularly
vulnerable to atmospheric pollution in terms of health.
On the other hand, the use of electricity to power transport is far less polluting and does not,
moreover, worsen the greenhouse effect or deplete the ozone layer.
The reduction of road, air and maritime traffic will happen in the coming years, as a
consequence of the unavoidable increase of liquid or gaseous fuel prices.
Owing to the predictable increase of liquid and gaseous fuels, and of the much
cleaner character of electricity, the European Union must implement strong incentives
for the Member States to develop electrical public transport as quickly as possible.

R-M78: Reduction of city road traffic.

Road traffic induced atmospheric pollution is particularly significant in cities, and especially in
large megalopolises122. Many scientific studies have demonstrated that this pollution is
responsible for a considerable number of premature deaths. Direct causes of air pollution
related deaths include lung and heart diseases, lung cancers123, and the development of
respiratory affections124, possibly allergies, especially in children125,126.
The European Union must give strong incentive for the Member States to cut down
city traffic by developing electrical public transport and soft transports, such as

122

IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer): IARC Monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risk
to humans. Volume 45. Occupational Exposures in Petroleum Refining; Crude Oil and Major Petroleum Fuels.
IarcPress, Lyon; 1989.
123
Pope CA 3rd, Burnett RT, Thun MJ, Calle EE, Krewski D, Ito K, Thurston GD. Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary
mortality, and long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution. JAMA. 2002 Mar 6;287(9):1132-1141
124
Garshick E, Laden F, Hart JE, Caron A. Residence near a major road and respiratory symptoms in U.S.
Veterans.Epidemiology. 2003 Nov;14(6):728-736.
125
Venn AJ, Lewis SA, Cooper M, Hubbard R, Britton J. Living near a main road and the risk of wheezing illness
in children. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2001 Dec 15;164(12):2177-2180.
126
McConnell R, Berhane K, Yao L, Jerrett M, Lurmann F, Gilliland F, Kunzli N, Gauderman J, Avol E, Thomas D,
Peters J. Traffic, susceptibility, and childhood asthma.Environ Health Perspect. 2006 May;114(5):766-772.

54

cycling. City and town representatives must implement this as part of an

environmental charter, in accordance with Recommendation-Measure R-M14.

R-M79: Standards on engine- and exhaust-related pollution.

Exhaust gas contains many toxic substances, among which carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen
oxides (NOX), hydrocarbons (especially PAHs), aldehydes (including formaldehyde, acrolein),
particulates, especially large amounts of fine ones (PM2.5), and, possibly, sulfur dioxide
(SO2).
These various pollutants significantly contaminate the air and are responsible for several
diseases.
Nitric oxide (NO), PAHs, formaldehyde and acrolein are carcinogens127,128. Moreover, fine
particulates (PM2.5), suspended in the air, carry many organic compounds and can hence
take a direct or indirect part in the development of cardiovascular diseases, cancers and
allergies129,130 .
Directive 2004/26/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004
(amending Directive 97/68/EC) on the approximation of the laws of the Member States
relating to measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal
combustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery, Directive 2003/17/EC of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 March 2003 (amending Directive 98/70/EC)
relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels, for road vehicles, and Directive 1999/96/EC
of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on the approximation of
the laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken against the emission of
gaseous and particulate pollutants from compression ignition engines for use in vehicles, and
the emission of gaseous pollutants from positive ignition engines fuelled with natural gas or
liquefied petroleum gas for use in vehicles and amending Council Directive 88/77/EEC have
set objectives regarding the reduction of toxic substance emissions in exhaust fumes.
However, these directives do not, and will not, make it possible to completely cut down CO,
hydrocarbon and particulate emissions. For the reduction of gaseous pollutants in engine
exhausts depends on two crucial parameters: the quality of engines and that of the fuels
used. Now although it may be possible to increase the quality of engines in terms of
combustion, there is actually no cleaning device efficient enough to completely cut down
toxic substances and particulate emissions in exhaust fumes from engines.
Moreover, although these directives recommend a schedule for the reduction of emissions
(Standards EURO 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), none of them specifies a TLV for those toxic substances.
Following the example of several European states such as Germany, Austria, or
Switzerland, the European Union must set emission standards at source for engines,
in road, air and maritime transports alike.

R-M80: Regulatory standards on diesel engine particulate emissions.

Both gasoline and diesel engines discharge NOX, CO, PAHs and aldehydes. CO, PAH and
aldehyde emissions are much higher in gasoline than in diesel engines. However, diesel
engines discharge much more SO2, and on average 10 to 20 times as many particulates as

127

See corresponding IARC monographs at : http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/allmonos90.php

Feng Z, Hu W, Hu Y, Tang MS. Acrolein is a major cigarette-related lung cancer agent: Preferential binding at
p53 mutational hotspots and inhibition of DNA repair. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Oct 17;103(42):1540415409.
129
Pope CA 3rd, Burnett RT, Thun MJ, Calle EE, Krewski D, Ito K, Thurston GD. Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary
mortality, and long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution. JAMA. 2002 Mar 6; 287(9):1132-1141.
130
Dominici F, Peng RD, Bell ML, Pham L, McDermott A, Zeger SL, Samet JM. Fine particulate air pollution and
hospital admission for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. JAMA. 2006 Mar 8; 295(10):1127-1134.
128

55

gasoline. Nevertheless, there is yet again no European standard on particulate emissions in

exhaust fumes.
The European Union must set standards regarding particulate emissions from diesel
engines and make sure that measurement laboratories use standardized dosing
methods.

M81: Cutting down sulfur contents in fuels.

The significant SO2 emissions from diesel engines are related to the very high amounts of
SO2 contained in the fuels used. Reducing the sulfur contents of fuels, especially diesel, is
likely to bring about a reduction not only in SO2, but also in particulate emissions.
By means of a specific directive and as was done for lead, the European Union must
ban the marketing of fuels containing sulfur.

M82: Decrease in the benzene content of gasoline.

Benzene is carcinogenic (Group 1) 131and has caused leukemia, in particular in children.
Thus, children living close to gas stations or garages have an increased leukemia risk (Refer
to Recommendation-Measure R-M38). A recent study has shown that, in the vicinity of gas
stations, benzene contents could reach 600 g/m3 on average.
It has been shown that benzene fumes can accumulate inside confined areas and thus
permanently pollute the indoor air of living quarters.
Benzene is carcinogenic and leukemogenic in case of prolonged intoxication.
Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 13 October, 1998,
relating to gasoline and diesel fuels quality amended by directive 2003/17/EC authorizes a
maximum benzene value of 1% v/v (volume/volume). One of the proposed measures is to
decrease the benzene content in gasoline to a value below 1%, as was done for lead.
The European Union and the Member States must legislate on the benzene content
and decrease the maximum value authorized in marketed fuels to a limit value that is
more suitable for health, which is well below 1%.

R-M83: Non-road mobile machinery running in confined spaces.

The European legislation has fallen behind in terms of public work machinery (non-road
mobile machinery), and especially for those running in confined spaces. When engines run in
confined spaces, air pollution is particularly acute, due to the lack of oxygenrendering the
combustion incompleteand to the absence of air circulation.
By means of a specific directive, the European Union must prohibit the use of fuel oil
for public work machinery engines, and must make it mandatory to have these
engines run on the same fuels as road vehicles. In confined spaces, the European
Union must prohibit diesel engines and have them gradually replaced with electrical
engines.

R-M84: Diesel engine control.

In order to limit polluting emissions, the quality of diesel engines requires periodic
maintenance, and, consequently, service every 8,000 hours.

131

IARC monographs on the carcinogenic risk of chemicals to humans. Supplement 7, 1987,

56

By means of a specific directive, the European Union must impose systematic and
periodic servicing for all diesel engines currently on the market.

2.3: Industrial pollution

R-M85: Regulatory compliance of industrial activities.

Industrial activities are an important contributor to atmospheric pollution. The combustion of
fossil fuels, and particularly of coal, is a major pollution factor.
Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention
and control (IPPC) regards the emission of pollutants (such as dusts, SO2, metals) from a
large range of industrial activities. It notably covers combustion installations with a rated
thermal input exceeding 50 MW, mineral oil and gas refineries, production and processing of
metals, mineral, and chemical substances, paper pulp, textile and hide industries, the food
industry (processed food, rearing of poultry or swine), and waste management.
In accordance with this directive, industrial plants will have to comply with specific
technicalities by 31 October 2007, in order to limit pollution, and therefore adopt the least
polluting means of production available, using Best Available Techniques (BAT) and
authorization procedures will be subject to BAT use.
The aim of the directive is to replace all obsolete polluting technologies with best available
techniques, as recommended in the BREF reference documents regarding each distinct type
of industry. 30 different industrial sectors have been defined, each with a specific BREF
document. Yet, several of the 30 BREF documents are currently still under revision.
Furthermore, as noted in European Parliament resolution of 24 February 2004, practical
implementation of the IPPC directive has been significantly delayed throughout the European
Union, to such an extent that it may actually not be implemented in due time.
European authorities must urgently rule on the implementation of Council Directive
96/61/EC of 24 September 1996. The Commission must accelerate the BREF reference
documents revision process. The commission must also impose individual sanctions
on the Member States which would not have taken the required measures to comply
with directive 96/61/EC by 31 October 2007, and require from the Member States
themselves that they impose those sanctions on an individual basis to the industries
that would not comply with this regulation by that time.

R-M86: Revision of directive 96/61/EC in the form of a regulation.

The existing directive is incomplete, as it only covers facilities with a rated thermal input
exceeding 50 MW, whereas industrial facilities with a lesser input are just as polluting.
Moreover, directive 96/61/EC only applies to the scale of facilities. Cumulative effects of
several smaller facilities located in the same area are not covered.
Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 must undergo revisions and more
specifically, must be extended to cover facilities with a rated thermal input of less than
50 MW. Moreover, it should also cover smaller facility clusters located in the same
area. Owing to trans-boundary pollution induced by industrial facilities, directive
96/61/EC must become a regulation.

R-M87: Industrial emissions of dust, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

The reduction of industrial related atmospheric pollution from dust, sulfur dioxide (SO2), and
nitrogen oxides (NOx) is recommended in Directive 2001/80/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into
the air from large combustion plants.

57

New threshold limit values (TLV) must be introduced and relevant manufacturers must
comply with the technical recommendations of the directive, referring to the BREF reference
document by 1 January 2008.
In order to reduce pollution induced by particles, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides,
the European Union and the Member States must see to the strict compliance with
Directive 2001/80/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October
2001 on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large
combustion plants, and make sure that the deadline of 1 January 2008 is met.

R-M88: Trans-boundary pollution. Limit values for emissions (LVE) for pollutants in
the air. Inadequacy of the CAFE directive proposal.
The Member States signed the Gothenburg protocol of 1 December 1999 at the United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on long range trans-boundary air
pollution designed to abate acidification, eutrophication and ground-level ozone.
Council Directive 1999/30/EC of 22 April 1999 relating to limit values for sulfur dioxide,
nitrogen dioxide and nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and lead in ambient air sets limit
values for pollutants. Directive 2000/69/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
16 November 2000 relating to limit values for benzene and carbon monoxide in ambient air
defines two new pollutants. Directive 2002/3/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 12 February 2002 relating to ozone in ambient air adds ozone induced pollution.
Council Directive 96/62/EC of 27 September 1996 on ambient air quality assessment and
management, and its daughter directive 2004/107/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 15 December 2004 relate to arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air.
There is growing concern over atmospheric emission of pollutants and their long range transboundary propagation, which by far outgrows individual preoccupations for each Member
State. Therefore strong action on behalf of the Union is required.
As for water pollution, air pollution requires that the Union take action outside the frame of
the subsidiarity principle. Such an action consists in implementing measures applicable by all
Member States. This is what is recommended by the Directive proposal from the Council and
the European Parliament and the Clean Air For Europe Directive (CAFE) introduced by the
Commission COM(2005)447 final and currently under discussion in the Parliament. The
current directive proposal as presented in COM(2005)447 final introduced by the
Commission remains very complex in its phrasing. It covers atmospheric pollution by dusts,
sulfurous anhydride (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), lead, benzene and
ozone. Although it is quite complex, the directive proposal is actually insufficient regarding
dusts (see Recommendation-Measure R-M76), confused regarding so-called natural
emissions, and is in fact incomplete. It does not cover heavy metals other than lead. It does
not cover PAH or ammonia (NH3) pollution, and, most importantly, it does not cover chlorine
or bromine atmospheric pollution, which are actually crucial for the future of the planet (see
Chapter 3). Finally, it only very modestly touches upon the sanctions faced by the Member
States for disregarding the terms or implementation schedule of the directive.
The European Union must simplify the phrasing of the current CAFE directive
proposal on air pollution. It must include atmospheric emissions of all volatile heavy
metals, especially mercury and cadmium. It has to include PAHs, carbon dioxide
(CO2), methane (CH4), and ammonia. It must also include chlorine and bromine
induced pollution, and must enforce limit values agreed on for PM10 and PM2.5. More
generally, regarding emission limit values, the European Union must legislate in
accordance with sanitary safety targets to be met as soon as possible by the majority
of the Member States of the Union. When the Member States are unable to meet the
targets, the Union will need to revise the schedule instead of modifying authorized
limit values to take these Member States into account. Finally, it must act with

58

increased strictness regarding the sanctions faced by the Member States not willing,
to comply with the terms of the directive, while able to do so, in due course.
AS IT IS, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE DIRECTIVE AS PROPOSED WILL NOT BRING ANY
INCREASE IN SANITARY SAFETY FOR THE DIFFERENT PEOPLES OF THE UNION IN
COMPARISON TO THE CURRENT SITUATION, AND THAT IT WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE
TO IMPLEMENT ANY PRACTICAL ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH POLICY ON AIR
THROUGHOUT THE UNION.

R-M89: National thresholds for emissions of atmospheric pollutants.

Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on
national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants sets in thousands of tons the
national emission ceilings to be reached by 2010 for sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides
(NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and ammonia (NH3). It also covers the technical
means to reach these objectives. As it stands, this directive does not seem to be included in
the field of application of the CAFE directive proposal.
The European Union must make sure that the Member States comply with Directive
2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2000
relating to national limit values to be met by 2010.

Chapter 3: stratospheric ozone depletion due to volatile chlorinated

and brominated substances
Stratospheric ozone (O3) is vital to life on Earth, because it protects living organisms against
ultraviolet radiations from the sun. Without that ozone layer, no complex life form could exist
on Earth.
Several scientific studies have revealed a causal link between the depletion of the
stratospheric ozone layer and the increase in skin cancer occurrences132,133. Stratospheric
ozone is normally generated from oxygen molecules, under the influence of solar radiations.
Chlorine and, even more so, bromine, react with ozone to produce chlorine or bromine
oxides and oxygen, which, through a self sustaining chemical reaction process, leads to the
depletion of stratospheric ozone. This phenomenon takes place around the poles, more
specifically from the beginning of winter, when temperatures average -80C. For such
temperatures favor the formation of polar stratospheric clouds: this allows the release of
active chlorine and bromine atoms from the chemical molecules present. From the beginning
of spring, solar radiation induced photochemical activation brings chlorine and bromine to
react with ozone, leading to its destruction. At the end of spring, stratospheric clouds
disappear due to rising temperatures, so that chlorine and bromine remain, inert and inactive.
The ozone depletion process is then interrupted, but will be reactivated during the following
winter and spring.
Since the Montreal Protocol134 on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer (SDO) on 16
September 1987, following the Vienna Convention for the protection of the ozone layer of

132

Kelfkens G, de Gruijl FR, van der Leun JC: Ozone depletion and increase in annual carcinogenic ultraviolet
dose. Photochem Photobiol 1990, 52: 819-823.
133
De Fabo EC: Arctic stratospheric ozone depletion and increased UVB radiation: potential impacts to human
health. Int J Circumpolar Health 2005, 64: 509-522.
134
Available at : www.unep.org/org/ozone

59

22 March 1985, a certain number of substances involved in that process have been replaced
or are still in the process of being replaced. But other SDOs are still in use.
The Montreal Protocol stipulates that the production and consumption of 96 chemical
compounds containing chlorine and bromine have to be phased out by 2040 following a
defined calendar.
These notably include halocarbons, and particularly chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons,
carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), methyl chloroform, hydrobromofluorocarbon (HBCF),
hydrochlofluorocarbon (HCFC), methyl bromide (CH3Br), and bromochloromethane (BCM).
Halons, CFCs, CH3Br, HBFCs, and BCM have now been formally prohibited. But HCFCs are
still partially allowed, as are CFC, chloromethane and CH3Br gels. Moreover, certain CFCs
are still used as propellants for medical purposes, in asthma medication for instance.
Provision is made in the Montreal Protocol for the creation of a fund designed to help
developing countries to gradually move out of their dependency regarding substances and
products which take part in ozone layer depletion, and the trade of which is now strictly
controlled.

R-M90: Chlorinated and brominated products. Chlorine and bromine emissions in the
atmosphere.
The implementation of the Montreal Protocol has led to a significant reduction of CFC use,
even though they are still used as propellants for medical purposes. CFC bans have led to
their replacement by substances such as HCFCs. HCFC use should in turn be gradually
phased out by 2020, as those substances are also potentially SDO, though to a lesser extent
than CFCs. SDO manufacturers worldwide are now concentrating on research and
development of new substances which could possibly replace HCFCs and all other SDOs.
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs)compounds which, like CFCs
and HCFCs, are known as halocarbonsare currently being used in replacement of banned
SDOs.
Phasing out SDOs and replacing them with other halocarbons is the current answer to ozone
depletion. But unfortunately, CFCs and HCFCs are powerful greenhouse gases (GHGs). As
a result, they also generate an additional threat to another major environmental issue:
climate change. Thus, replacing SDOs with other halocarbons is not a viable solution.
Taking into account article 3 of the Paris Appeal, the European Union must legislate,
by means of a specific directive, on chlorine and bromine atmospheric emissions, and
on the commercial and industrial use of chlorinated and brominated substances. It
has to assess the measures which have been implemented in conformity with the
Montreal Protocol on the reduction of chlorine and bromine substances use inside the
union, and should also initiate a new global assessment of the implementation of the
Montreal Protocol.
CFC use in propellants should be prohibited, including for medical use, as these
actually are of no proven medical benefit.
Finally, owing to the very high reactivity of bromine with stratospheric ozone, the
European Union must urgently make it a priority to legislate in a very firm manner on
the use of all brominated substances. In accordance with Measure 55, their use and
trade must be prohibited.

Chapter 4: Indoor air pollution

Most people spend over 90% of their time in a confined atmospherein professional, public
or residential buildings. There is growing concern over indoor air pollution and its incidence
on the development of several types of syndromes.

60

Thus, for instance, the Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) was defined by the WHO in 1982 as a
new combination of ailments specifically associated with the use of insalubrious facilities135.
There are several potential causes to this: emission of toxic chemical substances,
electromagnetic exposure, presence of microorganisms, poor ventilation.
Likewise, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), though not yet acknowledged as a syndrome
by the WHO, has recently been defined as a true pathology by the Danish environment
protection agency136.
Furthermore, several recent scientific studies have investigated the development of certain
cancers and/or leukemia as a consequence of chemical pollution inside office or residential
buildings.
Passive smoking probably has an impact, but it cannot account alone for the emergence of
these pathologies, especially when several studies suggest that the accumulation of dusts,
VOCs or other chemical substances have a decisive impact.

R-M91: The right to healthy indoor air.

Under the aegis of the European Center for Environment and Health and the World Health
Organization (ECEH/WHO), experts gathered in Bilthoren on 15-17 May 2000, defined 9
fundamental principles according to which every human being has a right to healthy indoor
air137. It is thus reminded that users of a dwelling have to be informed of the quality of its air,
that the criteria characterizing air quality have to be clearly defined, that substance emissions
should not go over a certain concentration, that individuals, groups or organizations owning a
public, private or governmental dwelling are accountable for the quality of the air offered to
the users of those dwellings, and that the quality of that air does not rest on the users
socioeconomic conditions.
Furthermore, the precautionary principle, the polluter pays principle or the principle of a
healthy sustainable environment are reasserted.
The European Union and the Member States, referring to WHO principles regarding
the right to healthy air, must intensify research into indoor air pollution of dwellings,
by implementing research programs, and, by means of an appropriate law, must make
sure that users of private or public dwellings will not be harmed by this type of
pollution.

M92: Passive smoking.

Passive smoking in public places is usually part of public health recommendations and
incentives in the different Member States of the European Union. Directive 2003/33/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the approximation of the laws,
regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning the manufacture,
presentation and sale of tobacco products, and Recommendation 2003/54/EC of the Council
of 2 December 2002 on preventing the uptake of smoking in young people both aim at
reinforcing the fight against smoking.
Following the example of Member States such as Norway and Ireland, the Member
States of the European Union must immediately ban smoking in all public places,
including restaurants and clubs.

135

IndoorAirPollutants: Exposure and Health Effects. Report on a World Health Organization meeting.
Copenhagen, Denmark: World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe; 1983. EURO reports and studies
no 78.
136
Environmental
Project
no.
988,
2005:
http://www.mst.dk/udgiv/publications/2005/87-7614-5484/html/helepubl_eng.htm
137
The right to healthy indoor air: report on a WHO meeting, Bilthoven, The Netherlands 15-17 May 2000.

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R-M93: Indoor air pollution.

Regulations concerning indoor air quality vary greatly from one Member State to another.
Threshold limit values for the concentration of the various chemical pollutants are most of the
time defined for the workplace, not for public or residential buildings. Moreover, they are
defined separately for each pollutant, and do not take into account cocktail effects, in other
words, they do not consider the possible interactions between pollutants (See
Recommendation R22).
WHO has set guidelines for Europe on threshold limit values for several chemical
substances138. In fact, some Member States have set threshold limit values higher than those
recommended by the WHO, and some, like France, actually do not even have threshold limit
values for most indoor pollutants.
The European Union must legislate in the field of indoor air pollution by means of a
specific directive, setting threshold limit values for the main indoor air pollutants in
public and private places.

R-M94: On-site sampling and green ambulances.

Green ambulances are vehicles equipped with devices to carry out chemical and biological
taking and radiation measures under the supervision of a doctor.
In order to measure pollutant concentration in public or private areas in the best conditions,
following the example of some Member States, such as Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg or
Sweden.
Member States must implement a sampling system based on the green ambulances
model and a pollutant dosage system by creating specialized certified laboratories.

R-M95: Traceability and labeling of raw materials, furniture and indoor products.
Indoor air pollutants are firstly due to outdoor air pollution, secondly to their discharge from
building materials, furniture, wall and floor lining, and thirdly to everyday consumer products
available on the market.
The European Union must legislate in the field of traceability of building and fitting out
materials, of furniture and of all products put on the market according to their life
cycle. It must make sure that such materials, furniture or products do not emit dust,
VOCs or any other toxic substance when subject to heat. The European Union must
legislate by means of a specific directive on the labeling of such materials, furniture
and products.

M96: Ban on materials, furniture and indoor products discharging toxic volatile
substances.
Any building or fitting out material, any furniture and any product known to discharge
dust or fibers, formaldehyde, VOCs or toxic volatile heavy metals, or any other toxic
substance must be formally banned from the market.

M97: Additional regulation regarding asbestos.

Since 1977, asbestos has been classified as carcinogenic by the IARC139.

138
139

nd

Air Quality Guidelines for Europe, WHO, 2 Edition

IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans Volume 14 Asbestos. 1977

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Commission Directive 1999/77/EC of 26 July 1999 adapting to technical progress annex I to

Council Directive 76/769/EEC ordered the Member States of the Union to comply with its
obligations by 1 January 2005.
Directive 2003/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 March 2003
amending Council Directive 83/477/EEC on the protection of workers from the risks related to
exposure to asbestos at work limits risks of exposure of workers to asbestos and prohibits
the manufacture of materials or products containing asbestos intended for export.
Use of asbestos has thus been formally prohibited in the EU since 2005, while some
countries such as China or Canada still have not adopted measures prohibiting the use and
trade of asbestos. In Europe, a large number of buildings still contain asbestos (ceilings,
boilers).
The European Union and its Member States must make it mandatory to control for
asbestos not only before purchase, but also before renting any dwelling, and must
prohibit the purchase or renting out of any residential building containing asbestos.

M98: Terms of the removal of asbestos. Ban on the removal of asbestos carried out in
non-EU countries.
Asbestos removal from any building, road, air or maritime vehicle, and in general, from any
product placed on the market and containing asbestos, is hazardous. Asbestos removal is
often more hazardous for health than confinement without removal. In France, 76% of
buildings sites are breaking the law, as they release asbestos fibers beyond tolerated
thresholds.
Asbestos removal needs to be avoided if it can be replaced by a sealing procedure,
consisting of a protection casing with a sealed covering, in order to prevent asbestos fibers
from polluting indoor air. Any asbestos removal, all the more so when asbestos flakes are
concerned, needs to be carried out by specialized teams. European Member States which
contributed, because of a laisser faire policy, to the pollution of their environment, allowing
the asbestos industry to develop in their countries must be held responsible. In accordance
with ethical considerations, they must by no means, for financial or economic reasons,
commit asbestos removal from contaminated vehicles or facilities to third countries, which
are, in most instances, inexperienced and insufficiently equipped.
Owing to the risks related to asbestos removal, the European Union and Member
States must make sure that asbestos removal processes are performed under secure
and ethical conditions. The European Union must prohibit any asbestos removal from
vehicles or objects that are requested from third countries due to economic
profitability reasons.

M99: Chimney sweeping of boilers containing asbestos and containment of asbestos

sheets.

Boilers and notably the parts of burners and fireboxes placed on the market prior to
the ban on asbestos potentially contain asbestos which has become friable. And yet,
operations to replace all these parts or some of them on boilers are often carried out
by non-specialized and often ill-equipped professionals. Due to the flakiness of
asbestos, asbestos removal may induce indoor air pollution.
Furthermore, as roof sheets and roofs in asbestos-cement (fibrocement) are not
considered to be friable, they are authorized by EU Member States. However, friction
of these sheets on metal (steel, aluminum) or wooden frames may generate
asbestos fibers in significant amounts under the roof.
In compliance with Measure M97, chimney sweeping of any boiler manufactured prior
to the ban on asbestos, and therefore probably containing some, must be prohibited.
Member States must make sure that the replacement of old boilers is carried out by

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specialists. The European Union must also legislate on the obligation to withdraw or
confine any hard sheet of asbestos located under the roof, as soon as people live or
work in the buildings concerned.

R-M100: Indemnification of asbestos victims and criminal sentences.

Asbestos victims are very numerous in Europe, and will be even more in the coming years,
because of the persistence of asbestos in the environment and of the long latency period
elapsing between exposure to asbestos and the first apparent sanitary effects resulting
thereof.
The European Union, and, more specifically, the European Court of Justice, must
make sure that asbestos victims and their families receive compensation equal to the
moral and sanitary prejudice inflicted on them. Such compensation should be
assessed not only in accordance with the polluter-pays principle, but also with the
criminal law (Refer to Recommendation-Measure R-M16).
As for financial compensation, it is advisable to plan for the creation of a European
fund to indemnify all asbestos victims, calling on companies, but also the European
Union and all Member States, as they delayed making legislative provisions against
asbestos and to implement them.
R-M101: Substitutes for asbestos.
In 1993, the International Program on Chemical Safety (IPCS) explicitly recommended that
exposure to any breathable and durable fiber be controlled to the same extent as that
required for asbestos until the data prove that lesser controls would be sufficient. Some
countries, as Germany, classifies some glass wools and mineral wools (rock wools) as
probable carcinogens140. In fact, the sanitary impact of these materials is not truly known to
this day, although it is generally considered that all breathable fibers under 3m in diameter
are potentially hazardous. This is especially true of artificial mineral fibers: glass wools, rock
wools, refractory ceramic fibers, and special-purpose glass fibers.
In 2002, IARC classified refractory ceramic fibers and special-purpose glass fibers ('475' and
E-glass fibers) as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B)141.
Moreover, silicon carbide whisk142, magnesium sulfate, or calcium sulfate fibers, and glass
fibers143 are deemed more toxic than asbestos. Moreover, Attapulgite, Wollastonite,
Vermiculite, Aramide and Phosphate fibers are thought to be as hazardous as asbestos.
Given that silicon carbide whiskers, magnesium or calcium sulfate or glass fibers,
Attapulgite, Wollastonite, Vermiculite, Aramide and Phosphate fibers are not devoid of
toxic impact on human and/or animal health, these substitutes must be subjected to
an international assessment. They must be banned from the market, until new
scientific evidence is produced regarding their hazard.

R-M102: Sanitary warning regarding pollution with nanoparticles released from

nanomaterials used in nanotechnologies.
Nanomaterials are made of nano-objects whose size ranges from 1 to 100 nm and whose
properties are specific to the nanometric scale. Nanomaterials are used or are in the process
of being used in many technological fields, in electronics, computer science, cleaning up

140

http://www.chrysotile.com/fr/chrysotile/substitute/default.aspx
ARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Volume 81. Man-made Vitreous
Fibres. 2002: http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol81/volume81.pdf
142
Vaughan GL, Trently SA, Wilson RB. Pulmonary response, in vivo, to silicon carbide whiskers. Environ Res.
1993 Nov;63(2):191-201.
143
Adachi S, Takemoto K, Kimura K. Tumorigenicity of fine man-made fibers after intratracheal administrations to
hamsters. Environ Res. 1991 Feb;54(1):52-73.
141

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processes, etc. Nanoparticles are thus much smaller than PM2.5 particles (Refer to
Recommendation-Measure R-M76). From a sanitary viewpoint, nanoparticles are extremely
dangerous ; they can penetrate the body through the respiratory tract. They also go directly
through the skin and penetrate the cellular membranes to reach the core, where they may
cause irreversible lesions. As underlined by the British Royal Society and the Royal
Academy of Engineering, sanitary risks are thus highly probable and probably very high.
Major precautions therefore need to be taken for people working in the field of
nanotechnologies144.
The European Union and the Member States must consider with great care the
potential sanitary hazards related to nanotechnologies and, owing to the
precautionary principle, suggest practical measures aimed at protecting exposed
people.

R-M103: Radon.
Over 50% of terrestrial radioactivity is caused by radon, naturally present in the ground.
Radon can accumulate in the air of residential buildings, due to its discharge not only from
the ground, but also, possibly, from building materials. It can also be found in drinking water.
According to WHO, several tens of thousands of lung cancer related deaths are imputable to
radon.
Current directives, including Council Directive 97/43/EURATOM of 30 June 1997 on health
protection of individuals against the dangers of ionizing radiation in relation to medical
exposure, take into account specific situations such as those related to medical imagery,
professional exposure or radioactive waste processing. They do not, however, take into
account information of the public on possible contamination by naturally radioactive
substances, such as radon.
Some countries have set at 200-400 Bq/m3 the limit above which measures have to be taken
to limit radon exposure in the air of residential building, whereas it has been shown that the
risk of lung cancer significantly increases above a 100/m3 value.
The European Union must legislate on the radon content in public and private places,
and must define an acceptable threshold limit dose. It must also approximate existing
laws in the different Member States of the Union, and encourage the latter to
implement sanitary protection measures in radon-hazardous areas.

R-M104: Measurement of radon in water.

Some countries such as Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, or
Russia, have defined and enforced limit doses of radon in water, whereas some countries
have none at all.
The European Union must make the measurement of radon in water mandatory and
define a standard in limit doses common to all Member States.

R-M105: Indoor air renewal and thermal insulation.

One of the means to fight the accumulation of substances toxic to the human body in
professional, public or residential buildings is ventilation. Renewal of indoor air is defined as
a movement of air between an indoor space and the outside, and the other way around. This
circulation of air requires building standards in order to conciliate air circulation with thermal

144

Nanoscience and nanotechnologies: opportunities and uncertainties. London: The Royal Society & The Royal
Academy of Engineering, 2004. Available from www.royalsoc.ac.uk/policy and www.raeng.org.uk

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insulation and soundproofing. In case of low outdoor temperatures, air circulated from the
outside implies heat losses, and conversely, in case of high outdoor temperatures, a heat
input. There are several known techniques that allow to combine air circulation with thermal
insulation.
The European Union must encourage Member States to revise architectural standards
regarding suitable indoor air circulation while allowing the thermal and acoustic
insulation of buildings. It must also encourage technological research in that area.

Chapter 5 : Generality on water and soil pollution

Water is essential to life. Its quality is an essential health component145. Soil pollution is
either direct, related to human activities, in particular agriculture, and industrial, or indirect, as
it is a tributary of water and air pollution. Conversely, soil pollution leads to water pollution:
fresh water or sea water.

R-M106: Water pollution. Stepping up framework directive 2000/60/EC.

Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000
establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy mainly aims at
contributing to progressively reduce the discharges of hazardous substances in water. It has
therefore established a list of 33 hazardous substances, present in water, assessed to be a
priority in terms of regulation. In this directive, it is clearly stated in the preamble, in
consideration 45, that the Member States define measures to eliminate pollution due to
priority substances from surface water, and in consideration 48, that the Commission
presents each year an updated plan of initiatives it intends to propose regarding water. And
yet, neither of these considerations has been followed.
Since the promulgation of this directive, most Member States still pollute water, not only with
certain of these 33 hazardous substances, called priority substances, but also with other
substances just as hazardous, while Commission initiatives in that field remain inadequate or
ineffective.
In general, we have to admit that Directive 2000/60/EC is not fully applied in all EU Member
States.
Owing to numerous scientific data available since 2000 regarding water pollution, as
well as soil pollution, and to the current assessment in terms of water pollution,
Directive 2000/60/EC needs to be fully revised regarding quality standards and
standards of reduction of polluting emissions.
The European Union must make sure that this directive integrates all pollutants
assessed as hazardous for fresh water, as well as for sea water. It must make sure
that the revision of this directive is carried out as soon as possible, owing to the
current seriousness of water pollution and, mostly, that it is practically applied by
each Member State, making adequate sanctions compulsory for those who do not
comply with the directive in its current terms.

R-M107: Soil pollution.

Soil pollution is both the cause and consequence of water pollution. In accordance with the
Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Towards a Thematic

145

WHO, Water-related disease. Available at: www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/en/index.html

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Strategy for Soil Protection (COM(2002)179final), the Commission defined the targets of a
thematic strategy for soil protection.
Human activity sectors involved in water and soil pollution concerning, in addition to private
individuals activities, activities in the agricultural sector, in the industrial sector and in the
distribution of products placed on the market, due to the wastes they generate. To each of
these sectors correspond specific directives.
Water and soil pollution due to agricultural activities falls within two types of main factors:
excessive use of chemical inputs, and more specifically pesticides (See Chapter 6), and use
of sewage sludge (See Chapter 7).
The European Union must make sure that specific directives deriving from the
framework law 2000/60/EC on water are practically applied by each of the different
pollution key figures.

Chapter 6 : Use of nitrates and pesticides, and reform of the

Common Agricultural Policy.
R-M108: Decrease in the agricultural use of nitrates. Stepping up directive 91/676/EEC
in the form of a regulation.
Nitrates are not directly carcinogenic. However, after ingestion, they are turned into highly
mutagenic146, and thus carcinogenic147,148, nitrites, nitrosamines and nitrosamides by the
intestinal bacteria in the large intestine. Though non-carcinogenic in themselves, nitrates are
thus indirectly CMR149 .
In Europe, water pollution due to nitrates has been growing over the last 20 to 30 years and
estimates show it increases on average of 1mg/l each year. This pollution is the
consequence of the growing use of chemical fertilizers linked to the development of intensive
agriculture and to the increase in soilless breeding.
Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters
against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources, slightly modified by Regulation
(EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 September 2003
aims at cutting back on the agricultural use of nitrates, thanks to the implementation of Good
Agricultural Practices, at defining in each Member State the vulnerable areas contributing to
pollution and the quality of polluted surface and subterranean water or on the verge of being
polluted, and finally, at limiting spreading with nitrogen fertilizers and breeding effluents.
In reality, in report COM (97)473 final, the Commission showed that 4 years after the forecast
deadline, 20 December 1993, only 4 Member States had met the obligation to transfer the
nitrate directive and that most Member States had not marked out vulnerable areas.
However, in report COM (2002)407 final of 17 July 2002, every Member State had
transferred the directive, create a monitoring network, established a code of Good practices
and marked out vulnerable areas.
In reality, the nitrate directive is only partially enforced and even not enforced at all by some
Member States. Indeed, measures carried out by monitoring networks reveal that in Europe,
approximately 30 to 40% of surface water, and 20% of subterranean water, are polluted by
nitrates and that agricultural nitrogen represents 50 to 80% of nitrate fertilizing in
subterranean water.

146

Tannenbaum SR, Young V, Green L, Ruiz de Luzuriaga K: Intestinal formation of nitrite and N-nitroso
compounds. IARC Sci Publ 1980, 31: 2819
147
Ward MH, Mark SD, Cantor KP, Weisenburger DD, Correa-Villasenor A, Zahm SH: Drinking water nitrate and
the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Epidemiology 1996, 7: 465-471.
148
De Roos AJ, Ward MH, Lynch CF, Cantor KP: Nitrate in public water supplies and the risk of colon and rectum
cancers. Epidemiology 2003, 14: 640-649
149
Ward MH, deKok TM, Levallois P, Brender J, Gulis G, Nolan BT, et al: Workgroup report: Drinking-water nitrate
and health--recent findings and research needs. Environ Health Perspect 2005, 113: 1607-1614

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The European Union and the Member States must make sure the nitrate directive is
strictly enforced, reinforce field inspections and controls and devise severe sanctions
for any breach regarding the application of this directive. Moreover, the European
Union and Member States must coordinate their actions with a view to harmonize the
terms of nitrate control and measurement in water and, through specific research,
assess with accuracy the consequences of nitrate pollution on health and
environment. Finally, in case of repeated breaches by the Member States, the
Commission must consider reinforcing this directive in the form of a European
regulation.

M109: Ban on the use of fertilizers rich in cadmium.

Cadmium is a heavy metal classified as carcinogenic (group 1) by IARC150. It is

therefore a CMR substance. Certain phosphates used as fertilizers are very rich in cadmium.
The soil is thus contaminated by cadmium and consequently, so is the food chain.
The European Union must ban the marketing and use of fertilizers rich in cadmium. It
must therefore fix a limit value.

M110: Inspections, controls and sanctions regarding the agricultural use of

pesticides.
Excessive use of plant-protection products or pesticides, such as defined in
Recommendation R5, induces soil, water, air and food chain pollution. This pollution
represents a major danger not only for populations health, but also for the agronomic quality
of soils and, in general, for the survival of the planets ecosystems.
Scientific experts of the Paris Appeal can testify to the fact that, despite the European
Unions ban on the use of pesticides assessed to be toxic, farmers in several Member States
still use them fraudulently in order to get rid of their stock or disregard the doses of
authorized pesticides.
In accordance with articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Paris Appeal, with groups of measures #4
and 5 of the same Appeal, in compliance with the precautionary principle, the
correction principle, as a priority, at source of environmental attacks, and the
polluter-pays principle, such as recalled in titles I and II of the Memorandum, and to
supplement Recommendation-Measures R-M70 and R-M73 and Measures M74 and
M75, the European Commission must contribute to multiply inspections regarding the
pesticide content of agricultural products on the market.
Inspections on site must be performed to check pesticides used and the assay in
pesticide content in marketed products, and the Member States that do no enforce
controls and inspections in their own countries must be strictly sanctioned.
It must also severely sanction suppliers and users of unauthorized pesticides, and in
general, sanction any organization or any private individual that does not comply with
the European Directives by having them pay a sizeable fine to the European Union.

M111: Regulation on good agricultural practices.

Agricultural practices concerning the use of pesticides in the European Union are left in the
hands of their users and their technical training is often left to industrial firms or retailers.
There is thus no specific and independent training for farmers and in reality, there is no
regulation limiting the amounts of pesticides used, nor their number according to the
agricultural sector and the type of crop.

150

IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Volume 58.Beryllium, Cadmium,
Mercury, and Exposures in the Glass Manufacturing Industry. 1994.

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Concerning the training of farmers, the European Directive to come on the sustainable use of
pesticides, which is currently being discussed and which should become a regulation (refer
to Recommendation-Measure RM70), states that the Member States will need to set up
training plans.
Good agricultural practices must be designed and taught independently from the business
sector and harmonized within the Union.
In order to decrease the amounts of pesticides used in each of the Member States and
to rationalize agricultural practices regarding their use, the European Union must
establish the provisions and restrictions of use of pesticides, with a specific
regulation. Once this regulation comes into effect, the European Union must make
sure that the Member States enforce its application.

M112: Inventory regarding the use of pesticides in the Union.

There is no accurate inventory, periodically establishing the amounts, types and number of
pesticides used on each type of crop and in each EU Member States available and known to
consumers. Industrialists producing pesticides are required to mention to EU Member States
the types and amounts of the produced pesticides they sell to their customers.
In order to establish a Regulation on Good Practices restricting the use of pesticides
in agriculture, the European Commission, through an independent organization, must
carry out an accurate inventory of the use of pesticides for each agricultural surface
and for each type of crop, in each of the EU Member States. This inventory must be
made public so that all citizens may be informed of the pesticides used in their area.

M113: Ban on the spraying of pesticides with non controlled means.

Spraying pesticides in the air results in a great loss and dissemination of pesticides at a great
distance from the sprayed area. It is estimated, for instance, that during spraying, only about
25 to 75% of pesticides end up in the sprayed field, the rest being disseminated in nature,
without any control over what may happen.
The European Union must ban the spraying of pesticides by plane or by any other
means that does not allow control over the local target to be treated. This condition
must be part of the Regulation on Good Agricultural Practices.

M114: Plan for a programmed reduction of pesticide use.

Several EU countries, including Denmark, Norway and Sweden, have successfully led
voluntarist policies to reduce the use of agricultural pesticides. The European Union has still
not legislated in this field, but on 12 July 2006, the Commission proposed a directive of the
European Parliament and the Council laying down a community action framework to reach a
sustainable use of pesticides. And yet, in accordance with the reduction principle at source of
environmental pollution and in compliance with group of measures #4 of the Paris Appeal, it
is essential to reduce the use of pesticides, in particular in the field of agriculture. Therefore,
the European Commission must urgently launch studies to determine the various
consequences of the gradual reduction in pesticide use, suited to each type of agriculture
and to each EU Member State, and to assess their possible implementation following what is
being implemented with the REACH regulation on the marketing of chemical substances.
This decrease must also be implemented in public parks and private gardens.
The Council, the European Parliament and the Commission must agree to adopt a
specific directive making provisions for each EU Member State for a plan to reduce
the dependency and use of pesticides according to specific targets, in the form of
ratings to be defined in each of the EU Member State.

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M115: Certification of pesticide retailers and users.

In order to avoid fraud and to implement as quickly as possible, Measure M75
The European Commission must, first of all, fix standards for pesticide use enabling
the certification of pesticide professional retailers and users, including farmers. Each
Member State must set up a training to make this certification mandatory.

M116: Ban on the use of pesticides in areas of water harnessing and other wetlands.
Owing to the toxicity of pesticides, following experiments carried out in several European
countries:
the European Union and the Member States must ban the use of pesticides in farmed
areas, in particular in water harnessing areas, in wetlands, in particular around lakes
and along rivers and sea coasts, in order to reduce pollution due to pesticides in
rivers, ground water and seas.

M117: Increased support for organic farming in water harnessing areas and other
wetlands.
In water harnessing areas, close to streams, lakes and ponds, along sea coasts
(M113), the European Union must encourage the use of alternatives to intensive
farming and therefore develop organic farming with adequate legislative measures
and financial incentives.

M118: Ban on the use of pesticides in public areas.

The excessive use of pesticides also affects public areas in towns and cities, as well as
roadsides and along railroad tracks.
Following the experiments carried out in several Member States, the European Union
must offer incentives to Member States to ban the use of pesticides in all public
places, including along roads and railroad tracks. It must encourage political and
administrative authorities in towns and cities to ban the use of pesticides in all public
places. This ban should come into effect within the framework of an Environmental
Charter whose outlines could be common to all towns and cities in the European
Union (see Recommendation-Measure R-M14).

R-M119: Revision of the Common Agricultural Policy.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was established in article 32 of the Rome Treaty in
1957, instituting the European Community. The CAP then mirrored the necessity to increase
productivity of a few industries of plant and animal production in order to provide consumers
with a regular supply of agro-food products at an affordable price.
Based on significant customs duties, the CAP has allowed farmers to receive relatively
remunerative, stable and incentive prices for a limited number of produce : cereals, sugar,
milk and meat. This policy has proven to be very efficient to the extent of generating a
surplus in the main produce concerned, but it has also persuaded European farmers not to
produce pulses (beans, peas, soybeans, alfalfa, clover, etc), for which such a protection was
not set up and in which we now have a serious shortage, whether it be for human food or
animal feed.
Rather than re-directing agricultural policy towards these productions, Europe has subsidized
the exports of produce for which it had a surplus at the risk of encouraging farmers to
specialize their production systems far too much. Several changes were gradually introduced
in the 90s, conveying a wish to turn towards a less productivity-slanted and more
environmentally-friendly agriculture. The price policy was followed by a policy of subsidies

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directly allocated to producers with a few conditions relating to environment protection.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development
from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) lays down
measures to support sustainable development.
To take advantage of this support, farmers need to subscribe to environmental commitments
regarding agriculture and breeding for a minimum period of 5 years. Theoretically, these
commitments must go beyond the basic implementation of the usual good practices and offer
services that measures to support the market and compensatory allowances cannot provide.
Aids paid are calculated according to the loss of income caused by price decrease and to
additional costs caused by the implementation of agro-environmental measures.
Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 of 29 September 2003 established a system of single
payment per farm that is submitted to compliance to environmental, sanitary safety and
animal well-being standards.
Commission Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 of 21 April 2004 laying down detailed rules for the
implementation of cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and
control system laid down common rules for direct support systems in the framework of CAP
and certain support systems aimed at helping farmers, and established the control of
farmers payment requests : each year, farmers must file a direct payment request form,
while States are responsible for carrying out required inspections, granted aid being then
lowered or cancelled, in case of non-compliance to rules.
And yet, according to the Court of auditors, special report No 3/2005 concerning rural
development151, it is clear, from the evaluation carried out, that the on-going reform is
extremely delicate, and even impossible to implement: The evaluation found that there were
problems intrinsic to the nature of the AE actions themselves and that the challenge to audit
authorities presented by the agro-environment undertakings should not be underestimated.
It also indicated that submeasures which require the farmer to reduce inputs by a certain
amount or not to exceed an amount of fertilizer per hectare were difficult to check because
soil analyses could not reliably determine respect of the input limits., which leads to consider
the fact that on-going reforms are impossible to apply fully.
Moreover, in the European Union with twenty-five members, there are 57% of farms with less
than 5 hectares.
And yet, the new rights to a single payment per farm, indexed to the previous subsidy levels
which were fixed proportionally to the size of farms, encourages an unfair distribution of CAP
subsidies, favorable to large farms and unfavorable to small ones.
Indeed, according to article 43 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 : a farmer shall receive a
payment entitlement per hectare which is calculated by dividing the reference amount by the
three-year average number of all hectares which in the reference period.
In order to limit the use of pesticides in agriculture, to cut back on the proliferation of
parasites, pathogenic agents and self-propagating plants which have become
resistant to insecticides, fungicides and herbicides, to meet the targets of
Recommendation-Measure R-M70, and also to make EU interventions more effective
and fairer, the European Union must revise the Common Agricultural Policy beyond
what it intends to do today.
It must promote the development of alternatives to the current types of specialized
farming that make excessive use of mechanization and chemical inputs.
It must encourage farmers to implement more diversified production systems than
today, combining more directly agriculture with breeding and using hardier varieties
that are more tolerant to predators and pathogenic agents.
It must encourage the use of integrated pest management methods (Integrated Crop
Management (IGM)) that are not as demanding in pesticides as conventional methods.

151

Available at : http://eca.europa.eu/audit_reports/special_reports/docs/2005/rs03_05fr.pdf

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The European Union must also promote various forms of organic farming through
direct financial incentives.
It must promote the setting up of permanent grasslands and pulse-based productions
(clover, alfalfa, field peas, field beans, etc), fixative of nitrogen in the air, in order for
Europe not to depend so much on the import of soy cakes (for animal feed) and oil (for
the manufacturing of nitrogen fertilizers).
Soybeans an its by-products must therefore be submitted to taxation at the borders.
Finally, the European Union must reform the CAP on fairer bases, through adequate
financial incentives and fiscal measures, and make sure that the prices of agricultural
produce are fixed not only based on the produced amount, but also based on the
quality of these produce, according to new criteria to be defined : organoleptic quality,
sanitary safety of foodstuffs, etc. It is clear that one of the major criteria must be the
low content in contaminants, and in particular in pesticides, or better still, the absence
of pesticides in these produce.

M120: Taxation of agricultural chemical inputs.

One of the ways to reduce the excessive use of chemical inputs, in particular pesticides, and
to contribute to set prices of agricultural products according to their quality is to put a tax on
pesticides in order to find the financing required to implement the policy recommended in
Recommendation-Measure R-M119.
Given the progressive exhaustion of oil reserves and the high probability that the peak of oil
production will take place in the years 2015 to 2035, such a taxation on pesticides should not
be seen as a retaliation measure aimed at farmers using intensive agriculture, but as a
softening measure aimed at preparing them to face the upcoming effects related to the
inescapable increase in oil prices.
Indeed, without any immediate restructuring encouraging farmers to reduce the amounts of
pesticides they use, the increase in oil prices, which inescapably leads to an increase in
chemical input prices threatens to place farmers using high amounts of pesticides in an
extremely difficult situation, as subsidies granted by CAP will not be enough to make their
farms profitable.
In order to find the financing required to implement a more environmentally- and
health-friendly common agricultural policy, to develop a less dangerous production
mode on all farmed lands, other than those of organic farming, and to soften the
upcoming effects related to the increase in oil prices, the European Union must
encourage Member States to put a tax on pesticides placed on the market,
immediately and systematically.

M121: Subsidies to institutional/school catering.

Through the subsidies it grants, the CAP results today in favoring large farms to the
detriment of small ones and, consequently, as this stimulates intensive agriculture, in
favoring the amount produced over quality. Moreover, due to current emphasis on high
productivity, farms have become extremely specialized and agriculture has parted from
breeding, thus putting an end to the carbon-nitrogen cycle.
The consequences are : a lower production of organic inputs, a decrease of the vegetal
mould rate in the soil, a quicker return of carbon in the atmosphere (in the form of CO2) and
direct pollution of water by nitrates (breeding effluents and a surplus of artificial nitrogen
fertilizers). Such an agriculture cannot be sustainable due to the energetic and economic
costs it generates, to the progressive sterilization of soils and to the loss in diversity of wild
and domestic species.
And yet, current CAP reforms, in addition to their difficult applicability (refer to
Recommendation-Measure R-M119) seem to be unable to offer sufficient protection for the
environment.

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Furthermore, intensive agriculture, such as it is known in Western European Member States,

cannot be applied to the new Member States and to future Eastern European candidate
countries, whereas, by definition, the CAP must be applied to all EU Member States.
The European Union must redefine the CAP on new bases applicable to all Member
States and favor quality produced over quantity.
In order to achieve this, in addition to Recommendation-Measure R-M119 and
Measure M120, one of the possibilities is that it transfers, at least in part, the subsidies
it grants to agriculture to institutional/school catering (schools, hospitals, companies,
social cafeterias,) to stimulate the demand in quality products, and thus restore the
alliance between farmers and consumers.
In fact, this is the only way likely to bring farmers in all EU Member States to meet
environmental and health requirements of populations, as well as restoring know-how
to favor.

M122: Subsidies to organic farming.

The production terms of organic farming were defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No
2092/91 of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural products and indications
referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs. Organic farming must be
fundamentally distinguished from reasoned agriculture that stems from purely industrial
considerations152.
As opposed to reasoned agriculture, the essential basis on which organic farming is founded
is the fact of not using chemical inputs, i.e. not using chemical fertilizers, nor artificial
pesticides, which guarantees the absence of forcing in the development and growth of
agricultural products and the absence (or the very low content) of artificial pesticides in
agricultural products or animals placed on the market. The production rules of organic
farming ban any recourse to phytosanitary products from artificial chemistry. The production
mode of organic farming relies on the data directly inspired by agro-biology and agroecology.
The sanitary interest of organic foods is three-fold: (1) These foods do not contain any
contaminant or contain only very low amounts, in case of unintentional contamination (see
previously) ; (2) they have a higher content in antioxidant than non-organic foods153,154 ; (3)
they enable children, who are fed with these, to be significantly less contaminated by many
chemical pollutants, than children fed non-organic foods155,156.
Organic farming and the marketing of organic products must therefore find a reinforced place
within the European Union, through the implementation of an agricultural policy aimed at
increasing organically farmed lands, according to detailed targets : for example, 15% of the
farmed surface over 5 years and 30%, in 10 years.
The European Union and the Member States must promote the development of
organic farming by subsidizing research in agro-ecology, by making sure organically
farmed lands and the marketing of organic products both increase, through financial
incentives.

152

http://www.uipp.org/uipp/partenaire.php
Bourn D, Prescott J. A comparison of the nutritional value, sensory qualities, and food safety of organically and
conventionally produced foods. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2002 Jan;42(1):1-34.
154
FAOs twenty-second regional conference for Europe : the influence of organic farming on the innocuousness
and quality of foods. Available at : http://www.fao.org/docrep/meeting/X4983f.htm
155
Lu C, Knutson DE, Fisker-Andersen J, Fenske RA. Biological monitoring survey of organophosphorus pesticide
exposure among pre-school children in the Seattle metropolitan area. Environ Health Perspect. 2001
Mar;109(3):299-303;
156
Curl CL, Fenske RA, Elgethun K. Organophosphorus pesticide exposure of urban and suburban preschool
children with organic and conventional diets. Environ Health Perspect. 2003 Mar;111(3):377-382.
153

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R-M123: Stepping up organic farming. Revision of the regulation proposal planned in

place of Regulation (EEC) N2092/91.
The European Commission presented a proposal of Regulation to the Council amending
Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91, aimed at decreasing organic farming requirements and even
at eliminating the fundamental principles. Indeed, the law plans to authorize the use of
pesticides, to normalize the presence of GMOs up to 0.9% (Refer to Measure M127), to
prohibit Member States to impose higher standards, and finally to set a schedule with very
restrictive deadlines.
The proposed Council Regulation, amending Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91, is totally
unacceptable for sanitary, social and economic reasons, and goes against current scientific
data, as presented in Recommendation 22 and Recommendation-Measures R-M70 and RM71.
The Commission and the Council would be taking a considerable responsibility to
promulgate, as it is, such a Regulation. Should they persist, they would be doing it in
opposition to medical and scientific experts of the Paris Appeal and in opposition to the
aspirations of civil society.
In fact, we need to change tack. The European Union must contribute to reinforcing
requirements for organic farming by introducing some of the practices of sustainable
agriculture, such as crop rotation, preservation of embankments and hedges, drainage of
wetlands, obligation to feed reared animals with green forage, obligation to cover soils in
winter in order to protect them against erosion, obligation to analyze soils regularly.
The European Union, and in particular the European Council and Commission, have
no other option but to abrogate the Regulation proposal aimed at amending Council
Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 of 24 June 2001, on the organic production mode of
agricultural products and rephrase another regulation proposal which, conversely to
what is currently proposed, must reinforce the specifications of organic farming,
taking into consideration the fundamental principles of this production mode and its
current development.

M124: Ban on the export of pesticides banned on the European market to other
countries.
For obvious humanitarian and sanitary reasons and in accordance with principle 14 of the
Rio Declaration on the environment and development,
the European Union must ban all exports of pesticides, which it has withdrawn from
the market, to other countries, and take strict sanctions against companies that would
not comply, whether they be national or multinational.

M125: Ban on the export of produce for which farmers were subsidized.
The extreme industrialization of agriculture in developed countries, and in some developing
countries, and the promotion of competitiveness within the framework of globalization, are
the cause of the difference in productivity between farms in Northern countries and those in
Southern countries, and consequently, of the worsening of sales inequalities between these
countries, which explains the increase in importance of fair trade, as supported by the FAO.
Such an inequality is one of the factors that causes persistent famine and poverty in the
world.
The European Union, aware of its humanitarian calling and of its international
responsibilities, must redefine its common agricultural policy and not only found it on
the sanitary and economic interests of its own Member States, but also place it within
a global framework involving poor countries.
In order to achieve this, it must ban any export of subsidized produce likely to
destabilize local agricultures of Southern countries and for which farmers were
subsidized. European agriculture should therefore be gradually redirected towards the

74

production of quality produce intended for its domestic market, without any prejudice
to farmers in Southern countries.

M126: Quality labels : Regulation on pesticide use.

The European Union makes a difference between two types of food quality designation
according to their Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and the Protected Designation of
Origin (PDO). These designations, once registered, are protected against the sale of any
other competing imitation product, in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92
of 14 July 1992 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for
agricultural products and foodstuffs. Regulation (EC) No 1980/2000 of the European
Parliament and of the Council, of 17 July 2000, establishing a revised community eco-label
award scheme, aims at promoting products which have a reduced environmental impact.
The European Union must include, in the specifications on the awarding of the
Protected geographical indications or designations of origin for agricultural products
labels, strict clauses to regulate the use of pesticides and, consequently, to reinforce
regulations (EEC) No 2081/92 and (EC) No 1980/2000 in that field. Such clauses can
only serve to reinforce protection of PGIs and PDOs on the competitive market.

M127: Ban on open-field GMOs crops, taxation of imported GMOs intended for animal
feed and fraud repression.
The known sanitary risks of GMOs are essentially the onset of allergies. Other risks include
the possibility of bacterial resistance and, mostly, of pesticide-related diseases, as transgenic
plants contain them in great amounts, either because the transgenesis process specifically
leads them to synthesize them, or because they absorb them from the outside environment.
Environmental risks of GMOs are various : contamination of other types of crops, loss in
biodiversity, increase in the resistance to self-propagating plants and pests, possibilities of
bacterial transfer of transgens in the soil, and even at the level of bacteria of the intestinal
flora, etc. 157,158,159,160,161,162.
In 2005, the area sown with GMOs worldwide rose to 90 mil. hectares163. Farmed areas in
Europe are very limited (58.000 ha in Spain). Regulation (EC) No 1830/2003 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003, on the traceability and labeling of
GMOs and the traceability of food and feed products produced from GMOs, exempts from
the labeling obligation any product containing GMO traces, if they do not exceed the
threshold of 0.9% per ingredient.

157

Dale, PJ, Clarke B, Fontes EMG. Potential for the Environmental Impact of Transgenic Crops, Nature
Biotechnology 20 (6), 2002, 567 -574-575.
158
Conner AJ, Glare TR, NAP JP. The release of genetically modified crops into the environment, Part II.
Overview of ecological risk assessment , The Plant Journal 33, 2003. 19-46
159
ICFS (International Council For Science). New Genetics, Food and Agriculture: Scientific Discoveries - Societal
Dilemmas , Paris, 2003, 56 pages. Disponible sur :
http://www.icsu.org/Gestion/img/ICSU_DOC_DOWNLOAD/90_DD_FILE_ICSU_GMO%20report_May%202003.p
df
160
FAO (Organisation des Nations Unies pour lAlimentation). La situation mondiale de l'alimentation et de
l'agriculture 2003-2004 - Les biotechnologies agricoles : Une rponse aux besoins des plus dmunis? 2004, 227
pages.
161
GM Science Review Panel. GM Science Review: First Report - an Open Review of the Science Relevant to
GM Crops and Food Based on the Interests and Concerns of the Public , Londres, Dpartement du commerce
et de l'industrie, 2003. Available at : http://www.gmsciencedebate.org.uk/report/default.htm
162
Gruzza M, Fons M, Ouriet MF, Duval-Iflah Y, Ducluzeau R. Study of gene transfer in vitro and in the digestive
tract of gnotobiotic mice from Lactococcus lactis strains to various strains belonging to human intestinal flora.
Microb Releases. 1994 Jul;2(4):183-189.
163
Source : www.isaaa.org

75

Directive 2001/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 March, 2001,
relating to voluntary dissemination of genetically-modified organisms in the environment,
requests mid- and long-term health controls that are not enforced in Europe. In fact, this
directive is incomplete. It should include the obligation to evaluate the chronic toxicity of
GMOs on mammals that consume them today, using tests, as is the case for directive
91/414/EEC on pesticides. As it stands today, directive 2001/18/EC is clearly not as
restrictive as the regulation on pesticides.
The European Union must ban on its soil any GMO crop for the purpose of marketing,
must ban the marketing of any GMO product, must ban any import of GMO products
for human foods, must set a tax on any import of GMO products intended for animal
feed, must regulate extremely strictly any experimental crop of GMOs in open fields,
must regularly carry out the required inspections and must finally make it compulsory
for Member States to severely sanction any fraud to these regulations.

Chapter 7 : Analyses and treatment of sewage sludge

R-M128: Decrease in the use of sewage sludge in agriculture. Revision of directive
86/278/EEC.
Council Directive 86/278/EEC of 12 June 1986 on the protection of the environment, and in
particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture regulates the agricultural use
of sewage sludge.
The conditions of use of sewage sludge as regards sanitary safety, such as recommended in
this directive, are very insufficient.
Despite practices in effect, sewage sludge contaminate soils with numerous heavy metals,
including mercury, lead, cadmium, nickel and chromium. Thus, each year, farmed lands in
the European Union are contaminated by over 4 tons of mercury. Consequently, if it pollutes
water, mercury accumulates in the whole fish food chain.
The European Union must revise and reinforce as quickly as possible directive
86/278/EEC on the use of sewage sludge, redefine much stricter thresholds for
authorizations, in order to reduce progressively the use of sewage sludge in
agriculture and make sure that Member States strictly prohibit the use of sewage
sludge when they exceed fixed thresholds.
The European Union must here and now make sure that registers reporting on the
quality and amounts of used sludge are accurately and regularly updated in each
Member State, must make sure that directive 86/278/EEC in its current form is truly
and practically applied by each Member State and must sanction any Member State
that would not fully comply.

M129: Stepping up of the terms of the ban on the spreading of sewage sludge.
Heavy metals in sewage sludge disperse in the soil when soil pH is below 6, i.e. acid or
neutral.
Any sludge spreading on farmed land must be banned if sludge contains heavy metal
contents that are higher than authorized standards, if soil pH was not measured by an
official organization, and if pH is shown to be below 6 and if the land to be spread is
close to a wetland.

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M130: Sewage sludge and incineration.

The most hazardous pollutants for health in sewage sludge are, by decreasing order,
cadmium, lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, some copper and nickel compounds. These
metals contaminate the air when they come out of incinerators or concentrate in ashes.
The European Union and the Member States must strictly ban any incineration or coincineration using sewage sludge.

R-M131: Treatment of sewage sludge.

Sewage sludge is included in wastes. Biological or physical processes can be used to
eliminate heavy metals. Research must be carried out to develop more efficient technological
means of treatment in order to allow their agricultural use in safe conditions.
The European Union must encourage biotechnological research in the field of sewage
sludge treatment with suitable financial incentives.

Chapter 8: Mercury pollution

With Cadmium, mercury is probably the most dangerous of all, as it is able to accumulate in
the whole food chain, in particular in fish and seafood. Moreover, it transfers to the placenta
thus contaminating the fetus and passes the hematoencephalic barrier, which explains
why it is the cause of diseases of the nervous system, in particular in children. It has been
indeed scientifically established that mercury, and more specifically, methyl mercury causes
diseases of the nervous diseases164 (Refer to Measure M26). Furthermore, ethyl mercury
could be carcinogenic165. Mercury pollution is ubiquitous, and concerns air, water, soil and
foods. There are therefore two contamination routes: air (inhaling mercury fumes) and food
(ingesting contaminated foods).
Following the proposals of the United Nations Environment Program (UNPE) on mercury of
February 2003, Communication COM (2005)20final of the Commission and the conclusion of
the 2670th meeting of the Council of 24 June 2005, regarding community strategy on
mercury, the decision was to orient the fight against mercury pollution towards a decrease in
mercury emissions and a world cut in offer and demand.
Owing to the importance of the issue in terms of public health, the European Union is
considering taking urgent measures to fight mercury pollution.

M132: Mercury limit values for emissions.

Mercury content in the air is not regulated. Therefore, no limit value for emissions (LVE) is
fixed regarding emissions sent out by industrial facilities using coal combustion.
The European Union must not only fix local limit values for emissions for factories,
but also attribute for each Member State annual emission quotas.

164

Sanfeliu C, Sebastia J, Cristofol R, Rodriguez-Farre E. Neurotoxicity of organomercurial compounds. Neurotox

Res. 2003;5(4):283-305.
165
IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Volume 58. Beryllium, Cadmium,
Mercury, and Exposures in the Glass Manufacturing Industry. 1997

77

M133: Extension of mercury limit values for emissions (LVEs) to any coal combustion
facility. Revision of directives 96/61/EC and 2001/80/EC.
Small coal combustion facilities discharge more or less as much mercury as large facilities.
For industries using coal combustion, the Union must fix LVEs, including for small
businesses, and therefore revise and extend Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24
September 1996 and supplement Directive 2001/80/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 23 October 2001 on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants
into the air from large combustion plants, by extending it to small combustion
facilities and introducing the conditions to fight emissions of mercury or its byproducts.

M134: Extension of limit values for emissions to all sectors of the industry.
Given that the sources of mercury or by-products emission concern many sectors of the
industry,
the European Union must consider fixing LVEs to all sectors of the industry, including
industries involved in the production of chlorine and soda, cement works and
secondary steel manufacturing plants.

M135: Chlorine and soda industry: gradual dismantling of mercury cell electrolysis.
Considering Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996, and the PARCOM Decision
90/3 on Reducing Atmospheric Emissions from Existing Chlor-Alkali Plants of 14 June 1990 of
the OSPAR Commission.
The European Union must attend to the progressive dismantling of mercury cell
electrolysis used in the chlorine and soda industry, and encourage their substitution
with currently available processes, in compliance with BREF documents in their
current state. Moreover, the European Union must attend to the safe storage of
mercury thus released.

M136: Ban on the marketing of products containing mercury. Revision of directive

76/769/EEC.

Given that mercury is a hazardous substance, the European Union, in addition to

Measures M26, M27 and M28, must ban the marketing of all products or objects
intended for the consumers market containing mercury or its by-products, including
measuring instruments and medical devices, whether they be electrical or electronic.
The European Union must revise Council directive 76/769/EEC of 27 July 1976,
regarding the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of
the Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain
dangerous substances and preparations, must include in it measuring instruments
and medical devices, and must ban the marketing of any product or object intended
for the consumers market containing mercury.

M137: Ban on mercury imports and exports.

Owing to the UNEP/WEF/UNIDO World Project on mercury aimed at limiting or eliminating
the trade of products containing mercury or its by-products, such as pharmaceutical
products, paints, biocides, cosmetics, batteries, fluorescent tubes, measurement devices and
owing to the proposal of the Commission,
the European Union must eliminate any export of mercury or its by-products, whether
it be mercury in its elementary state or its by-products, such as mercury oxide

78

chloride, as quickly as possible, by 2008. To achieve this, the European Union must
amend Regulation (EC) No 304/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of
28 January 2003 concerning the export and import of dangerous chemicals.

M138: Tracing of products in trade.

Owing to the previous essential requirements and in order to cut back on the offer of
mercury,
the European Union, simultaneously to Measure M137, must organize, in trade, the
tracing of products likely to contain mercury, strictly ban all imports in the Union of
any products that do not comply with standards and generalize as quickly as possible
this ban to all products containing mercury.

M139: Ban on the use of mercury in gold washing.

Due to the seriousness of pollution induced by the use of mercury in gold washing, in
compliance with Measure M133:
the use of mercury for gold washing must be strictly banned in all territories outside
Europe that are part of the Member States of the Union, and in French Guiana to begin
with.

Chapter 9: Waste management and treatment

In order to maintain growth in the framework of globalization based on free trade and
competition, our economic system encourages consumption. Therefore, our modern
societies produce very important amounts of wastes. Wastes are defined in the first article of
Directive 2006/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2006 on
waste, in place of directive 75/442/EEC.
Wastes are any substance or object in the categories set out in Annex I which the holder
discards or intends or is required to discard.
In reality, one should consider wastes, as any substance, any product, any object which is no
longer used, in other words, which in the current economic system, is not consumed
anymore.
Wastes come from various sources. Some are hazardous in themselves, others contain toxic
substances and therefore, without any specific treatment, pollute the environment and have
an impact on populations health.
Appendix 1 of Directive 2006/12/EC lists 16 categories of wastes according to their nature,
origin or dangerousness. The common point of these different waste categories is that they
are not or no longer used for reasons linked to production or consumption or else for
legislative reasons.
Thus, in general, one should distinguish: (1) industrial or agricultural process residue, (2)
consumption residue, (3) broken-down objects and (4) substances and products prohibited
by the law. As underlined by the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the
European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and The Committee of
the Regions COM (2005) 666 final, of 21 December 2005 on Taking sustainable use of
resources forward - A Thematic Strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste, the
volume of waste is growing in Europe.
Approximately 50% of municipal waste is dumped, 33% is recycled and composted, and 18%
is incinerated.

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However, implementation and incineration present drawbacks. Most of the time, dumps are
open air and thus insufficiently secured, and incineration or co-incineration discharges
numerous pollutants.
In reality, incineration or co-incineration, though they have the advantage of simplifying
problems and enabling energetic recovery of some wastes, are activities which use up a lot
of reusable resources other than energetic. Both activities are thus insufficiently profitable
economically. Moreover, despite current regulatory precautions and standards, incineration
and co-incineration remain very polluting, and thus incompatible with a healthy environment.
Though very probable, harmful consequences on health are difficult to establish: possible
cancers in the vicinity of incinerators or dumps166,167, long-distance trans-boundary transfers
of pollutants, involvement in stratospheric ozone depletion and increase in the greenhouse
effect (see further on).

R-M140: Waste management General strategy.

Waste management and rational treatment of wastes resulting from human activities
represent one of the most difficult issues that different Member States in the Union need to
solve.
To incineration or dumping, one should prefer another method based on (1) the decrease at
source of waste production, (2) local waste management, i.e. at the scale of areas
concerned, and (3) the development of recovery options other than energy production based
on selective sorting, reuse and recycling, (4) and finally the specific treatment of hazardous
or non recyclable waste.
Following the example of some countries, such as Japan and the USA, the European
Union, through a specific legislation, must encourage Member States to reconsider
completely the waste treatment issue.
The general strategy to follow must be to cut back on the production of wastes at
source and to decrease dumping, incineration and co-incineration. To achieve this,
prior to any dumping or energetic recovery, Member States must efficiently recover
wastes : they must organize targeted collections and implement standardized
selective sorting and suitable treatments that will allow to reuse or recycle
components or materials contained in waste.

R-M141: Cutting back on waste production at source. Lifecycle of products on the

market.
In general, over-consumption linked to the western economic system generates a very
important amount of wastes. Article 3 of Directive 2006/12/EC in section a) encourages
Member States to promote the prevention or reduction of waste production and its
harmfulness through suitable measures. In fact, this directive states intentions without
making it compulsory for Member States to take specific measures to cut back efficiently on
waste production. In reality, the fundamental datum to be determined is lifecycle, and more
specifically, the lifecycle of products on the market.
USED REGULARLY, A SHORT-LIFECYCLE PRODUCT OR OBJECT WILL GENERATE
WITH TIME A MUCH MORE IMPORTANT AMOUNT OF WASTE THAN A LONGLIFECYCLE PRODUCT OR OBJECT.

166

Franchini M, Rial M, Buiatti E, Bianchi F. Health effects of exposure to waste incinerator emissions: a review of
epidemiological studies. Ann Ist Super Sanita. 2004;40(1):101-115.
167
Hu SW, Shy CM. Health effects of waste incineration: a review of epidemiologic studies. J Air Waste Manag
Assoc. 2001 Jul;51(7):1100-1109.

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The European Union must reconsider Directive 2006/12/EC and introduce the notion
of lifecycle of products on the market. The marketing of products with a long lifecycle
must be promoted compared to that of products with a short lifecycle.
Product lifecycle must thus be the focus of the modern worlds concerns. It must be
systematically assessed by industrialists through specific performance tests and be
part of the terms of the marketing authorization.
Thus, disposable products or objects, even if they are recyclable, must be banned
from the market, when there is another option with a longer lifecycle in identical safety
conditions.

M142: Waste management and treatment cost.

Waste management resulting from the marketing of products or objects with a short lifecycle
is very expensive, and this all the more as they are not recyclable. The fact a product can be
recycled or not therefore is dependent on the volume and the nature of the wastes it induces.
WITH IDENTICAL USE AND LIFECYCLE, A RECYCLABLE PRODUCT OR OBJECT
MUST THEREFORE BE PREFERRED TO A NON-RECYCLABLE PRODUCT OR
OBJECT.
CONSIDERING THE APPLICATION OF THE POLLUTER PAYS PRINCIPLE, WASTE
MANAGEMENT AND TREATMENT MUST BE FULLY BORNE BY THE
MANUFACTURER.
Hence the interest for the manufacturer to market long-life recyclable products and to
contribute to recover wastes resulting from them or to have wastes recovered, in order to pay
only the part of waste management and treatment not covered by their recovery. Thus, in
determining the retail price of a product or object placed on the market, the manufacturer
must take into account not only the cost related to manufacturing the product or object, but
also the cost related to the management and treatment of wastes resulting from the
consumption of the product or object placed on the market.
In order to enable waste management and treatment in the best conditions, one option is to
put a very high tax, i.e. comparable to oil, on non-recyclable and/or short-life products and
objects placed on the market. This tax should be proportional to the volume and
dangerousness of wastes generated, as well as to the nature of research required for their
potential treatment and/or storage.
An additional solution, having the advantage of not harming economic growth while providing
the marketing of low waste-generating products, is to remove the tax on recyclable and longlife products and objects.
The European Union must legislate on the costs of waste management and treatment
resulting from products and objects placed on the market. Considering the polluter
pays principle, costs linked to waste management and treatment must be entirely
borne by the manufacturer.
In order to promote the marketing of recyclable and long-life products and objects, it
is recommended that a high tax be set on non recyclable and short-life products and
conversely, that recyclable and long-life products benefit from a reduced value added
tax (VAT), in a similar way to what is planned in Measure M43 for the marketing of
clean products.

R-M143: Waste sorting with a view to recovery through selective sorting and
recycling.
Due to the multitude and very diverse nature and origin of wastes, their sorting is extremely
complex.
Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste establishes, in annex I, a list of 16
categories of wastes.

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This same list was taken up again in Directive 2006/12/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 5 April 2006 (see previously), promulgated in place of directive 75/442/EC.
Council Directive 91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste established, in
annex I, another more accurate list regarding categories or generic types of hazardous
waste listed according to their nature or the activity which generated. Thus, in annex I of this
directive, are considered to be hazardous: hospital wastes, pharmaceutical wastes, wood
preserving products, biocides and phytopharmaceutical products, solvent residue,
halogenous substances, used oil, tar coming from the industry, inks, colorings, plasticizers
and glues, etc.
In reality, considering Commission Decision 2000/532/EC of 3 May 2000 replacing Decision
94/3/EC establishing a list of wastes pursuant to Article 1(a) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC
on waste and Council Decision 94/904/EC establishing a list of hazardous waste pursuant to
Article 1(4) of Council Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste, a much more exhaustive
list of waste, resulting from a synthesis of directives 75/442/EEC and 91/689/EEC, was
drawn up, leading to a European catalog of waste. This catalog lists 839 categories of waste,
recorded in 20 chapters.
In reality, the European catalog of waste does not take into account the recyclability or reusability of waste.
Among waste reusable in the form of components or directly recyclable, one should
mention: (1) household biowaste, (2) the vast majority of paper and cardboard boxes, (3)
bioplastics packaging, (4) green waste and non-treated wood, (5) glass objects, (6) brokendown transport vehicles, (7) electrical and electronic appliances.
On the other hand, the following cannot be directly used or recycled and thus require
specific prior treatment : (1) numerous food packaging on the market, (2) sewage sludge, (3)
treated wood, (4) hospital and medical wastes, (5) used oil, (6) residue from the industry and
laboratories, and in general, all hazardous products.
In order to recover waste through the recycling of other resources than energy
production, the European Union and Member States must make a distinction
between reusable or recyclable waste and non-recyclable or reusable waste, and
institute for reusable or recyclable waste a management and treatment option based
on organized collection, selective sorting and recycling after specific treatment.

R-M144: Waste recovery through selective sorting and recycling. Revision of directive
2000/76/EC.
In the Communication from the Commission - Towards a thematic strategy on the prevention
and recycling of waste, the European Commission encourages Member States to recycle
recyclable waste and to reuse the parts of those that are reusable to save raw material
resources and limit pollution.
All parties concerned were asked to present their observations prior to 30 November 2003.
This resulted in Communication COM (2005) 666 final from the Commission to the Council,
the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and The
Committee of the Regions : Taking sustainable use of resources forward - A Thematic
Strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste.
Among the planned targets, one should underline: the simplification and modernization of the
current legislation, its application, the introduction of the notion of lifecycle in waste
management, the development of a more ambitious policy in waste prevention and the
development of joint recycling standards.
In reality, there are three types of recycling: (1) The first type concerns the conversion of
green waste into compost. (2) The second type consists in collecting, in the form of spare
parts, the components used to manufacture objects placed on the market. Such a collection
particularly applies to out-of-service vehicles and to electrical and electronic appliances (TV
sets, computers, washing machines, refrigerators, etc.). (3) The third type of recycling
consists in collecting the raw material that was used to manufacture products or objects

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placed on the market, in order to reuse it to manufacture new products or objects. Such
reuse particularly applies to paper and cardboard, non-treated wood, glass, and metal
objects (including out-of-service vehicles). It may also apply to electrical and electronic
appliances, after re-use of their components.
The European Union must encourage the Member States to commit themselves to a
strategy of waste management based on organized collection, selective sorting and
reuse or recycling of waste in three priority fields : composting, recovery of secondary
materials and recovery in the form of spare parts in electrical or electronic appliances
components. To achieve this target, and in compliance with Commission proposals
COM (2005) 666 final, the European Union must define a waste management scheme
applicable to each of the Member States, through a specific frame directive, must fully
revise Directive 2000/76/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4
December 2000 on the incineration of waste and must make sure that the Commission
meets the schedule of proposed measures it has fixed.

M145: Ban on the building of any new incinerator and on any new authorization of coincineration.
Incineration and co-incineration are non-discriminating, insufficiently profitable economically
and very polluting processes of energetic waste recovery.
Directive 2000/76/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 December 2000 on
the incineration of waste aims at fixing minimum requirements that incineration and coincineration facilities must meet. It aims in particular at limiting the emission of certain
pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), heavy metals, dioxins and
furans, by fixing limit values for emissions (LVEs) in incinerators exhaust fumes, as well as
in the discharge of used water from the cleaning of exhaust gases, the target being to reduce
the transfer of pollutants in the air and water.
This directive needs to be fully revised, as it is incomplete, does not allow for selective
sorting and recycling of waste, and most of all, is very harmful.
Indeed, the following are authorized to be incinerated or co-incinerated : sewage sludge,
medical and hospital wastes, treated wood (likely to contain halogenous compounds or
heavy metals), and other hazardous wastes containing substances, such as
polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), polycloroterphenyls (PCTs), chlorine, fluoride, sulfur, heavy
metals. Moreover, the recycling of secondary materials is planned only after incineration, i.e.
from incineration residue, which is not profitable at all economically. Furthermore, limit values
for emissions in the air and water are very insufficient and incomplete.
Thus, for example, in this directive, no LVE is given for bromine. And yet, the incineration of
brominated products, such as flame-retardants in electrical and electronic appliances
notably, is likely to give out bromine fumes that could be the cause, as chlorine fumes, of the
depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer (Refer to Title IV, Chapter 3).
Finally, control measures are planned in a non-continuous way for numerous substances and
not planned for others. The issue of incineration is not limited to the emission of dioxins.
Numerous other toxic substances, including polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), are also discharged
and not measured directly and regularly.
Blind incineration of waste, such as proposed by directive 2000/76/EC, is thus, as it stands,
extremely dangerous, polluting for the environment, offers no sanitary safety whatsoever
and, moreover, is insufficiently profitable economically.
Owing to the fact the sanitary consequences and environmental dangers of
incineration and co-incineration may occur over very long distances, the European
Union must not only fully revise Directive 2000/76/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 4 December 2000 on the incineration of waste, but also immediately
prohibit the construction of any new incinerator and make sure no new co-incineration
authorization is issued. These bans must last as long as a waste management scheme
applicable to all EU Member States, clearly defining the collection, selective sorting

83

and recycling means, has not been put in place, in compliance with Commission
proposals contained in communication COM (2005) 666 final.
Such a moratorium immediately applicable to all EU Member States is essential, if the
target is for the Union to adopt an environmental policy equal to the public health
challenge that it is now facing.

M146: Ban on the incineration or co-incineration of hazardous wastes.

For safety reasons, hazardous wastes require preliminary treatment in order for it to be less
polluting and, afterwards, recycled or reused. Pending further information, incineration or coincineration of hazardous wastes must be prohibited. This mainly includes sewage sludge,
treated wood, hospital and medical wastes, wastes from electrical and electronic appliances,
used oil and residues from the industry.
The European Union must ban the incineration and co-incineration of sewage sludge,
treated wood, medical and hospital wastes, wastes from electrical and electronic
appliances, used oil, as well as residue from the industry.

R-M147: Specific treatments and recovery of hazardous wastes.

For some hazardous wastes, there are already technical ways to treat and recover them,
apart from incineration or co-incineration.
Such is the case of sewage sludge that may be used in methanization plants to produce
methane, which could be used as a biogas.
This is also the case of some used oils that may be regenerated by refining. In reality, the
real issue in these two examples is the effectiveness of the technique used to get rid of
pollution.
Such is also the case of wastes coming from electrical and electronic appliances that may be
treated and recovered through selective sorting and recycling (see previously).
As for medical and hospital wastes, treated wood, wastes from the industry, they must have
specific treatments, including some that still need to be developed thanks to specific
research. They must thus be safely stored while these methods are developed.
The European Union must specifically consider the treatment of hazardous waste,
taking into account existing technical processes, and stimulate research in the field,
with specific financial incentives, when such processes have not yet been developed.

R-M148: Dumping of waste and protected storage.

Dumping of waste must be restricted and, most of all, secured. In order to avoid methane
discharge (greenhouse gas), any open-air dump comprising organic products must be
banned. Moreover, dumping should be designed only for inert products and objects that
cannot be reused or recycled. Such is the case of hazardous products which, when they
cannot be adequately treated to make them reusable or recyclable, must be stored safely.
The European Union must specifically legislate on the dumping of waste and on the
technical conditions of their securing. The Member States must scrupulously make
sure that open-air dumps are prohibited and that they comprise only inert, non
reusable and non recyclable products.

R-M149: Location of the management and treatment of urban and industrial waste.
The Basel Convention of 22 March 1989 on the control of trans-boundary movements of
hazardous wastes and their elimination, was adopted by the European Union through two
Council Decisions : Council Decision 93/98/EEC of 1 February 1993 on the conclusion, on
behalf of the Community, of the Convention on the control of trans-boundary movements of

84

hazardous wastes and their disposal (Basel Convention) and Council Decision 97/640/EC of
22 September 1997 on the approval, on behalf of the Community, of the amendment to the
Convention on the control of trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes and their
disposal (Basle Convention), as laid down in Decision III/1 of the Conference of the Parties,
prohibiting movements of hazardous wastes intended for their final elimination and recovery
operations towards non-party States.
Imports or exports of wastes, including hazardous wastes to or from one non-party State, are
banned. For party States, trans-boundary movements may be authorized only if the transport
and elimination of waste are harmless.
In addition to the ethical conditions considered in the Basle Convention, it appears moreover
that waste transport is expensive and that it may be dangerous.
Therefore, waste management and treatment must be carried out locally, in the Member
State that produces them. Thus, urban waste management and treatment must be borne by
towns and cities within the framework of a sustainable health charter (refer to
Recommendation-Measure R-M14). Likewise, industrial waste management and treatment
must be dealt with by specialized industrial organizations located in protected facilities, far
away from towns, cities and wetlands.
The European Union and Member States must attend to the decrease of road, rail and
maritime transport of waste and therefore, must make sure that waste treatment is
carried out locally, on protected sites, far away from towns, cities and wetlands, and
this all the more as they are dangerous.

R-M150: Creation of a European Agency for waste management and treatment.

Options regarding waste management and treatment are, in most cases, proposed only by
industrialists, without any consultation of independent experts. This results in decisions being
made by local political authorities and dependent on private initiatives, involving solely
industrialists opinion. Moreover, political authorities are most of the time insufficiently
informed of new technological possibilities regarding selective sorting, recycling and final
treatment of waste. Finally, with the prospect of waste recycling, it seems clear that citizens
are insufficiently informed regarding the practical conditions of selective sorting and the
outcome of sorted wastes.
Given the complexity of waste management and treatment, the European Union must
create a European Agency for waste management and treatment, aimed at collecting
all available technological information, organizing a rational waste management
scheme common to all Member States and based on an independent technicoscientific assessment, informing the public at large on how to implement selective
sorting and on the results obtained with recycling, in order to monitor the practical
progress of the different waste management and treatment schemes in each of the
Member States.

R-M151: Creation of a European Research Institute on waste management and

treatment.
Waste management and treatment require abundant research aimed at improving waste
recovery according to prioritized criteria, regarding their reuse, recycling and energy
production. Research areas to develop urgently include the rational treatment of hazardous
wastes, in particular sewage sludge, treated wood, used oil and chemical industry residues.
In order to stimulate research in the field of urban and industrial waste treatment in
Europe, the European Union must, as a priority, finance technological research
programs in that field and, at best, create a European Research Institute on waste
management and treatment.

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Title VI- Information, education, training, social

equality
R-M152: Information. Stepping up participative democracy.
All the data from European authorities are indeed accessible thanks to the Internet, but the
lack of transparency in decision-making and the lack of information, once decisions are
made, are the most common criticisms that citizens from the different Member States have
towards Union Authorities. Indeed, there is no way to relay information effectively to such an
extent that politicians themselves in the different Member States are often incompletely
informed of the decisions made in Brussels.
The Commission and the European Parliament must have more efficient means of
communication, elaborate clear and pedagogical messages and make sure that the
media spread quality information, in order for European citizens to have
understandable and suitable information in real time, regarding health and the
environment.

R-M153: Education. Ecology and hygiene education.

Educating European citizens, and more particularly children, is vital. Hygiene, health and
ecology must be included in educative programs and taught from the earliest age. Sanitary
education, in particular food education, from nursery school, is essential. In order to fight
obesity and overweight, one should teach children very early to diversify and balance their
food diet. Introducing organic foods in school catering may have here a pedagogical effect.
Vocational training of cooks and dieticians must be suited to current food issues to set up
quality institutional and school catering.
Educating citizens to current sanitary and environmental issues is a priority. This education
must aim at developing responsible and environmentally-friendly behaviors : decrease in
urban car traffic, restrictions in the use of biocides, selective sorting to manage waste.
Municipalities most certainly have a major role to play in educating citizens. Hence the
interest of a charter applicable to all towns and cities in Europe, such as proposed in R-M14.
The European Union must encourage the EU Member States to make it compulsory to
study ecology and hygiene from the earliest age and encourage towns and cities in
Europe to unite so that, on one hand, management policies involve environment and
sustainable health as a priority, and that, on the other hand, citizens adopt
responsible and environmentally-friendly behaviors. From the viewpoint of sanitary
policy, environmental protection is indeed a priority.

R-M154: Vocational training.

The environment is a very important source of jobs in many fields : health, agriculture,
industry, energy, research, etc.
The European Union and the Member States must promote vocational training and
jobs in the environment with specific laws and financial incentives.

R-M155: Health at work.

Manual workers in the industry and agriculture are the first ones to be exposed to numerous
pollutants and, consequently, among the general population, have a more important risk of
having an environmental disease.
Prevention in health at work is faced with four difficulties : (1) in most cases, company
doctors are in fact unable to modify the technical conditions of exposure of workers at their

86

workstation and thus to offer primary prevention in suitable safety conditions ; (2) due to the
evolution of current scientific data, new safety standards must be defined ; (3) owing to new
scientific data on pollution, company doctors are not informed and trained well enough.
Specific training regarding new public health issues needs to set up. (4) workers may present
new sanitary risks related to the increase of pollution. These risks may be worsened due to a
lack of information or precaution ; (5) finally, a certain number of new diseases caused by
pollution need to be acknowledged as vocational diseases and victims must obtain
compensations.
The European Union and Member States, in partnership with unions, must start up an
in-depth reform of health at work by redefining new safety standards, giving company
doctors the possibility to provide a genuine primary prevention of diseases and
making sure that workers meet safety requirements and that they receive suitable
compensations, including in case of a new disease caused by pollution.

R-M156: Social equality Righting wrongs.

In the world, one can merely state the fact that the existing gap between Northern and
Southern countries is worsening. While Northern countries (including Europe) are getting
richer, Southern countries are getting poorer.
This gap can be materialized from a sanitary viewpoint. Thus, for example, obesity and
overweight have become one of the major handicap in rich Northern countries, whereas
famine and denutrition concern over one billion people who live in poor Southern countries.
Such a gap between rich and poor populations, though not as acute and thus not as serious,
also exists in Northern countries. It is therefore true in Europe, among EU Member States
and within each State, between different categories of population. Everywhere in the world,
poverty grows and tends to spread (refer to Recommendation-Measure RM42), whereas,
simultaneously, the riches keep growing and tend to be limited to a minority, which leads to
consider that many societies worldwide have in fact two tiers : that of the wealthy and that of
the poor, and that, in the end, the Universal Human Rights bill is not respected.
Aware of its responsibilities, the European Union must adopt a much more ambitious
social policy founded on moral and law-abiding standards, not only towards the
different Member States, but also towards poor countries. It must clearly and
practically reassert the inescapability of the Universal Human Rights bill and firmly
fight any breach of these rights.

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Title VII : Education,

development

Research

and

technical

Education, research and technological development are essential to reduce pollution and
improve health. In these fields, it is vital that Europe be one of the front runners and possibly
show the way in the world.
R-M157: The failure of the 6th framework program in terms of sanitary research. The
need to include environmental health and prevention in the 7th framework program.
Decision No 1513/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2002
concerning the sixth framework program of the European Community for research,
technological development and demonstration activities, contributing to the creation of the
European Research Area and to innovation (2002 to 2006) had planned to direct research
towards seven thematic areas assessed as a priority for a global amount of 16,270 million
Euros.
The seven thematic areas identified were : (1) life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for
health, (2) information society technologies, (3) nanotechnologies and nanosciences, (4)
aeronautics and space, (5) food quality and safety, (6) sustainable development, global
change and ecosystems, (7) citizens and governance in a knowledge-based society.
None of these seven thematic areas specifically dealt with the link between health and the
environment, as the first field dealt with health without considering the possibility of risk
factors related to the environment and as the sixth field dealt with environmental research,
without considering the sanitary consequences of pollution. Moreover, in the first field, no
research on prevention was considered, no more than environmental prevention.
This has resulted in the 6th framework program of the European Community being a
complete failure in terms of public health, if results, as regards treatment breakthroughs
and the fight against diseases, are analyzed, and this, despite the huge amounts of money at
stake. Thus, contrarily to what was planned, acquiring fundamental knowledge on the
genome has in fact allowed no real advances in the screening and treatments of most
diseases.
Fighting the main diseases identified has been an incredible failure in terms of public health,
due to the absence of a decisive breakthrough, as regards screening and treatment, whereas
the incidence of these diseases has been growing unavoidably, including since the
implementation of this program. This is notably the case of cancers, diabetes, diseases of
the nervous system, whereas fertility problems have not even been considered in the sixth
plan.
And yet, the 7th framework program of the European Community for research and
technological development, currently being drawn up, does not learn from the failure of the
previous plan, in terms of health, and is the continuation of the 6th framework program,
without taking into account, as a priority, health and environmental issues, and more
particularly environmental health issues. This is a very serious conceptual mistake, which
leads and will lead inexorably to endanger future generations.
In terms of health, the European Union and the Member States must learn from the
failure of the 6th framework program relating to research, technological development
and demonstration activities, and modify the direction taken in the draft of the 7th
framework program.
The European Union and the Member States must therefore include, as a priority,
research and technological development activities in the fields of health and
environment, and more particularly in that of environmental health, considering the
concept of sustainable health, and not only of sustainable development. European
citizens must be particularly careful regarding the direction of research of the 7th
framework program, as, in compliance with articles 2 and 3 of the Paris Appeal, their
health, and that of future generations, is at stake.

88

R-M158: General direction of research.

Owing to what was said previously, public health research must follow two leads : in the
medical field in itself and in the field of technological development.
In the medical field, research must take into account as a priority the study of links between
health and the environment, the setting up of screening tests, the implementation of primary
prevention measures and the discovery of new treatments.
In the field of technological development, research must contribute to environmental
prevention, based on the development of new tools and industrial processes aimed at cutting
back on environmental pollution and at cleaning it.
In the field of health and the environment, the European Union and the Member States
must set up and subsidize research programs in two directions as a priority: firstly,
the study of the links between health and the environment, and the development of
preventive measures in environmental health, and secondly, the study and
development of new technologies aimed at polluting less the environment and at
cleaning it.
R-M159: Studies and medical research.
In terms of medical research, research in prevention must be promoted compared to
therapeutic research, as most current diseases induced by physical, chemical or biological
degradation of the environment resist most existing treatments, including biology or genetic
derivatives.
This scientific fact is essential and must condition strategic decision-making in terms of
research. Thus, Europe must encourage the development of research subjects, such as
toxicology, epidemiology and environmental health, and endeavor more particularly to
develop medical fields, which comprise cancer, sterility, congenital malformations, childhood
diseases, obesity, diseases of the nervous system, allergies and new diseases induced by
physico-chemical pollution.
In the field of epidemiology, it is essential that the European Union give incentives and
coordinate the creation of registers in each Member State regarding the diseases mentioned
previously, as a priority.
The European Union and the Member States must contribute to the creation of
European registers in the field of environment-related diseases. It must encourage the
development of research in toxicology, epidemiology and environmental health by
financing specific programs. Main lines in research must concern as a priority the
prevention of emerging or re-emerging diseases whose incidence is growing, such as
cancers, sterility, congenital malformations, childhood diseases, obesity, diseases of
the nervous system, allergies.

R-M160: Cancer research.

Cancer constitutes an unsolved public health issue.
In 2004, in Europe, there were 2.9 million new cases of cancers (54% in men, 46% in
women) and 1.7 million deaths168.
Cancer mortality has hardly decreased while the incidence is globally growing in all Member
States, including in children (refer to Measure M38).
Thus, in Europe, as in the United States, the incidence of childhood cancers has increased of
approximately 1% each year in the last 20 years169,170.

168

Boyle P, Ferlay J. Cancer incidence and mortality in Europe, 2004. Ann Oncol. 2005 Mar;16(3):481-488.
Steliarova-Foucher E, Stiller C, Kaatsch P, Berrino F, Coebergh JW, Lacour B, Parkin M. Geographical
patterns and time trends of cancer incidence and survival among children and adolescents in Europe since the
1970s (the ACCISproject): an epidemiological study. Lancet. 2004 Dec 11-17; 364(9451): 2097-2105.
169

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Likewise, in the last 20 years, in many Member States, in women, the incidence of breast
cancers has doubled ; in men, that of prostate cancers has tripled, whereas that of testicular
cancers has increased at least fivefold.
Simultaneously, over the last 20 years, advances in treatments have not come up to financial
investments. Thus, therapeutic research based on the study of the genome or the immune
system has reached a dead end.
This has resulted in the fact that, in the United States, the curve of cancer-related mortality
has remained steady in the last 50 years, in spite of the different research plans implemented
(refer to appendix IV) and this is also true in Europe. Therefore, cancer research must now
follow a different path. Although we need to continue research in the field of biology and in
particular of genetics to develop new treatments, it has become essential today to reconsider
cancer research globally to direct it as a priority towards prevention.
In general, it is admitted that one cancer out of four (25%) is caused by tobacco addiction
and that cancers non related to tobacco, that is to say three cancers out of four (75%), are
caused by individual factors related to lifestyle and/or collective factors, related to physical,
chemical or biological degradation of the environment171,172. Thus, research in prevention
must, as a priority, concern individual and environmental factors.
The European Union and the Member States must fully review their strategy in terms
of cancer research and direct it more specifically towards environmental prevention.

R-M161: Ecology and hygiene education in schools.

Teaching ecology and hygiene at school is essential. This must be done from an early age
and in a specialized way, at university.
The European Union and the Member States must encourage the development of
ecology and environmental health education at university.

M162: Creation of a new medical specialty: environmental medicine.

Owing to the emergence of diseases related to pollution, and to the growing number
of patients affected by these diseases, the European Union and the Member States,
following the example of certain Member States, such as Germany, must encourage
the creation of a new medical specialty : environmental medicine.

M163: Allergology acknowledged as a medical specialty.

Given the frequency and growing incidence of allergies, the complexity of etiological
mechanisms, and the great number of diseases to treat specifically, the European
Union and the Member States must contribute to acknowledging allergology as a fullyfledged medical specialty.

170

Kaatsch P, Steliarova-Foucher E, Crocetti E, Magnani C, Spix C, Zambon P. Time trends of cancer incidence
in European children (1978-1997): Report from the Automated Childhood Cancer Information System project. Eur
J Cancer. 2006 Sep;42(13):1961-1971.
171
Belpomme D, Irigaray P, Newby JA, Seralini GE, Sasco AJ, Howard V. Cancer as an environmental disease.
Estimation of the risk attributable to environmental factors. En cours de publication.
172
Belpomme D, Sasco AJ, Irigaray P, Newby JA, Howard V, Seralini GE, Clapp R. Cancer as an environmental
disease. Specific analysis of several cancer types. Soon to be published.

90

R-M164: Research and technological innovations.

The European Union and the Member States must provide an independent scientific
assessment in all environmental fields, promote the development of green chemistry
and clean products and contribute to the development of cleaning techniques.
European authorities must contribute to the creation of a European Research Institute
for waste management and treatment.

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Appendix 1: Paris Appeal, an international

declaration on disease due to chemical pollution
th

Scientists and researchers at the international colloquium in May the 7 , 2004, at UNESCO in Paris on
"Cancer environment and society" organized by French cancer research organization ARTAC gave
their support to the Paris Appeal.

PREAMBLE
Recalling that, according to the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) of 7 April 1948,
Health is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of
disease or infirmity",
Recalling the commitment to the universal principles of human rights, asserted in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948, and in the two International United Nations
Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and specifically Article 12.1, which sets out the
right for every human being to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health,
Recalling the Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
adopted 16 June 1972, stating that "Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate
conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being", and that
the right to life itself is acknowledged as a fundamental human right;
Recalling the Declaration of the Hague on the environment signed by representatives of 24 countries
on March 11, 1989, reasserting that remedies to be sought involve not only the fundamental duty to
preserve the ecosystem, but also the right to live in dignity in a viable global environment, and the
consequent duty of the community of nations vis--vis present and future generations to do whatever
needs to be done to preserve the quality of the atmosphere;
Recalling that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child signed on November 20,
1989, sets out in Article 6 that States Parties shall "recognize that every child has the inherent right to
life" and shall "ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child" and
in Article 24 that States Parties "recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of health ()" and "shall take appropriate measures () to combat disease ()
taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution";
Recalling the European Charter on Environment and Health adopted 8 December 1989, according to
which every individual is entitled to an environment conducive to the highest attainable level of health
and well-being;
Recalling Resolution 45/94, passed on 14 December 1990, by the General Assembly of the United
Nations, on the need to ensure a healthy environment for the well-being of individuals declaring that
everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living for his or her own health and well-being;

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Recalling the Convention on Biological Diversity of 5 June 1992, stating in its Preamble that "where
there is a threat of significant reduction or loss of biological diversity, lack of full scientific certainty
should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to avoid or minimize such a threat";
Recalling that the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development of 13 June 1992, proclaims in
Principle 1 that " Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development () and
are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature", and in Principle 15 that "in order
to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according
to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific
certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent
environmental degradation";
Recalling that, under Article 2 of Annex V of the Ospar Convention for the Protection of the Marine
Environment of the North-East Atlantic, signed on 22 September 1992, Contracting Parties shall fulfil
their obligation and take " the necessary measures to protect the maritime area against the adverse
effects of human activities so as to safeguard human health" with a view to eliminating the
discharge, emission or loss of hazardous substances found in the marine environment by the year
2020;
Recalling that the consolidated version, dated October 2, 1997, of the Treaty establishing the
European Community specifies in Article 174, regarding the environment, that Community policy on
the environment shall contribute to pursuit of the following purposes: preserving, protecting and
improving the quality of the environment, protecting human health, prudent and rational utilization of
natural resources and promoting measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide
environmental problems. In 2, the same article makes it clear that Community policy on the
environment shall be based on the precautionary principle, and Preventive Action Principle, on
the Correction Principle, aiming at correcting, first and foremost, the sources of environmental
degradation, as well as on the Polluter-pays Principle;
Recalling that the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety with regard to the Convention on Biological
Diversity of 29 January 2000, reasserts in its Preamble and Article 1 the precautionary approach
contained in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, taking into account
risks to human health;
Recalling that the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) of 22 May 2001,
recognizes that "Persistent Organic Pollutants possess toxic properties, resist degradation,
bioaccumulate and are transported through air, water and migratory species" and specifies, in Article
1, its objective, which is to "protect human health and the environment from Persistent Organic
Pollutants";
Recalling that the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development of 4 September 2002,
denounces the continuing loss of biodiversity, desertification, the adverse effects of climate change,
more frequent and devastating natural disasters, and air, water and marine pollution;

SCIENTIFIC CONSIDERATIONS
1. Whereas the sanitary situation is deteriorating worldwide, and considering that this deterioration,
though different in nature, affects developing as well as industrialized countries,
2. Whereas chronic diseases registered by WHO, especially cancers, are increasing alarmingly;
whereas the global incidence of cancers is on the rise worldwide; whereas since 1950, the incidence
of cancers among the populations of highly industrialized nations has increased steadily; whereas
anyone, young or old, can be affected by cancer; whereas chemical pollution, the magnitude of which
remains to be assessed, could largely contribute to the onset of cancer,
3. Whereas exposure to some substances or chemicals cause a rise in the incidence of some
congenital anomalies,
4. Whereas infertility, and particularly male infertility - whether it be consecutive or not to congenital
malformations or due to a decline in sperm quality and/or sperm counts - is on the rise, especially in
highly industrialized areas; whereas, in some European countries, up to 15% of couples are now
infertile, chemical pollution being one of the causes of infertility,
5. Aware of the fact that human beings are now exposed to a widespread chemical/toxic pollution
caused by multiple substances or chemicals; that this pollution affects human health; that these effects
are often due to a poorly regulated marketing of chemicals, but also to inadequately controlled
management and monitoring of production, consumer use and disposal of these chemicals,
6. Conscious of the fact that these substances or chemicals are more and more numerous :
Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organo-halogenated derivatives such as dioxins and
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos, toxic metals including those qualified as hazardous heavy

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metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium, pesticides, food additives and others ; that some of these
products resist degradation and are persistent in the environment; that many of these products
contaminate the air, water, soil and food web ; that man is constantly exposed to persistent toxic
substances or products, including Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) ; that, among these
substances or products, some bioaccumulate in living organisms, including the human body,
7. Whereas most of these substances or products are currently being marketed without prior and
sufficient toxicological testing and risk assessment for human health,
8. Whereas these numerous chemical substances or products cause a widespread dispersed
contamination throughout the environment ; whereas they interact with one another thus causing
additional and/or synergic toxic effects in the environment and/or living organisms; whereas it is
therefore extremely difficult to produce evidence, at the epidemiological level, of a direct link between
exposure to one and/or the other of these chemical substances or products, and the development of
these diseases,
9. Whereas, regarding toxicology, a number of these substances or chemicals are hormonedisrupting chemicals (endocrine disrupters), that can be carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for
reproduction (CMRs) for human beings, and therefore susceptible to induce cancers, congenital
malformations and/or infertility; whereas some of these substances or products can be, among other
effects, allergenic resulting in chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma; whereas some are
neurotoxic chemicals, leading to degenerative diseases of the central nervous system in adult
population and to intellectual impairment in children; whereas some are immunotoxic, leading to
immunodeficiency, particularly in children, causing infections, especially viral infections; whereas
pesticides are deliberately spread in large amounts in the environment, while a great number are toxic
chemical pollutants for animals and/or human beings and for the environment,
10. Whereas children are the most vulnerable and exposed to contamination by these pollutants;
whereas a great number of these substances or toxic products are transported across the placenta
and can pass through to the fetus; whereas they accumulate in human adipose tissue and are then
found in breast-feeding mothers' milk; therefore acknowledging that pollutants have already entered
the child's system as from his/her birth; whereas, in addition, children can ingest and/or inhale these
substances or products and/or inhale the air polluted by the same substances, especially in our
homes,
11. Whereas these polluting substances or products can induce diseases in children population, such
as those listed in 9 ; whereas one out of seven children in Europe suffers from asthma, whereas
asthma is made worse by city and home pollution; whereas incidence in pediatric cancers has been
on the rise for the last 20 years in some industrialized countries; and whereas these considerations
all lead to the fact that Children are now in serious danger,
12. Whereas the human being is a mammal consubstantial with the surrounding flora and fauna, any
irreversible destruction or pollution of which endangers his own life; whereas man is responsible for
the disappearance of several thousand species each year,
13. Whereas the 28 July 1999 Wingspread Statement, signed by 22 U.S. scientific experts and
NGO's, establishes a causal link between extinct wildlife and domestic animals and contamination of
the environment by some of these chemicals; whereas man is exposed to the same products as these
domestic or wild animal species; whereas these products caused diseases in these animal species
(congenital malformations, infertility) leading thus to their extinction and considering that these
diseases parallel those now found in human beings,
14. Whereas chemical pollution in all its forms has become one of the main causes of current human
scourges such as cancers, infertility, congenital diseases, etc; whereas contemporary medicine is
unable to halt them and, despite great advances in medical research, could well never be able to
eradicate them,
15. Whereas, moreover, pollution triggered by the atmospheric release of greenhouse gases leads
unquestionably to a worsening of global warming and serious climatic disruption; whereas,
according to the less pessimistic scientific forecasts, by 2100, the average temperature could well
have risen by 3, which will contribute to the deve lopment and proliferation of viruses, bacteria,
parasites and vectors of these infectious agents; and considering that consequently, the spreading of
their ecological niche from the southern to the northern hemisphere would be likely to cause the
dispersion of the diseases they induce and the recurrence of infectious and/or parasitic diseases,
which had been partially halted in the last century, or even the appearance of new diseases, in
northern hemisphere nations.

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DECLARATION
Based on these considerations, We, Scientists, Medical Doctors, Jurists, Ethicists and Citizens,
convinced of the urgency and seriousness of the present situation, solemnly declare that :
Article 1 : The development of numerous current diseases is a result of the deterioration of the
environment.
Article 2 : Chemical pollution represents a serious threat to children and to Man's survival.
Article 3 : As our own health, that of our children and future generations, is under threat, the
Human race itself is in serious danger.
We call upon national decision-makers, European Authorities, international organizations, and
specifically the United Nations Organization (UNO), to take the following measures:
Measure 1: Banning all products that are certainly or probably carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic
(CMRs) for human beings, as specified by competent international scientific authorities and
organizations, and therefore applying to these products the principle of substitution; exceptionally,
whenever implementation of this principle is not feasible and the use of the product concerned is
considered unavoidable, limiting its use to a minimum with particularly stringent measures of fixed
quotas,
Measure 2: Applying the precautionary principle to all chemicals that, regardless of toxicity
characteristics specified in Measure # 1 (refer to 9 and 13), and because they are persistent,
bioaccumulative, toxic (PBT) or very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB), constitute an
allegedly serious and/or irreversible danger for human and/or animal health, and more generally the
environment, without waiting for the definite proof of an epidemiological link, so as to anticipate and
avoid serious and/or irreversible sanitary or ecological damage,
Measure 3: Promoting the adoption of toxicological standards or international thresholds to protect
people, based on the assessment of risks for the most vulnerable, i.e. mostly children and the embryo.
Measure 4: With respect to the precautionary principle, adopting programs with scheduled deadlines
and targets in precise figures so as to achieve elimination or strictly regulated reduction in polluting
substances emissions and in the utilization of marketed chemicals, such as pesticides, modeling the
reduction in use implemented in Sweden, Denmark or Norway,
Measure 5: Due to the serious threats to mankind, calling upon States to require from every public or
private entity to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions or their inefficiency to react;
whenever this is not the State's responsibility, it should be dealt with by an international jurisdiction;
Measure 6: As for global warming and climate change, this responsibility requires nations to
implement forceful measures to cut greenhouse gases emissions without waiting for prior effective
implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.
Measure 7: As regards Europe, reinforcing the REACH program (Registration, Evaluation and
Authorisation of CHemicals) that aims at regulating the marketing of chemicals so as to ensure
substitution of the most dangerous for man with less dangerous substitutes; as regards the world,
adopting international regulations to control the marketing of chemicals following the REACH program
in a reinforced version.

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Appendix 2: Signatories of the Paris Appeal

The Paris Appeal received the adherence and support of distinguished personalities, such as two
French Nobel Prize winners in Medicine, Professors Franois Jacob and Jean Dausset, of many
members of the Acadmies des Sciences et de Mdecine, among which Professors Jean Bernard,
Franois Gros, Yves Coppens, Lucien Israel, Luc Montagnier, of media and humanist key figures,
such as Nicolas Hulot, Albert Jacquard, Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
The Paris Appeal is a reference document for European authorities. Several hundreds of
international scientists, nearly a thousand NGOs and 200,000 doctors have now signed the
Appeal. It has also been signed by the French governing body of doctors, as well as all the
governing bodies and representative medical organizations in the 25 Member States of the European
Union gathered in the Standing Committee of European Doctors, which represents two million
European doctors.
The target is to collect, at the European level, one million signatures to give weight to the Paris Appeal
in the European decision-making process.
A Support Committee of the Paris Appeal was created and includes : for Austria, Andreas
Lischka ; for Belgium, Paul Lannoye and Catherine Wattiez ; for Europe, Genon Jensen ; pour la
France, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Dominique Belpomme, Philippe Desbrosses, Dany Dietmann, Nicolas
Hulot, Corinne Lepage, Yves Paccalet, Jean-Marie Pelt, Gilles-Eric Sralini, Franois Veillerette and
Yannick Vicaire ; for Germany, Peter Ohnsorge ; for Great-Britain, Vyvian Howard ; and for
Luxembourg, Joseph Wampach.
Full list of signatories at www.artac.info

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Appendix 3: Drafting the Memorandum

Since 2004, ARTAC has set up and coordinated an independent scientific assessment in the following
fields : health, medicine, biology, toxicology, epidemiology, physical, chemical and natural sciences.
The experts involved come from the following countries : Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France,
Germany, Great-Britain, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, the United States. Several NGOs were also consulted.
The Memorandum was drafted by Philippe Irigaray, Ph.D in biochemistry, and by Dominique
Belpomme, Professor in medical oncology at the University of Paris.
Adeline Gadenne, in charge of ARTACs scientific communication, coordinated the scientific
assessment workshops.
Regulatory and scientific watch work was carried out by Julie Gouverneur, Engineer in industrial
biology, and Hlne Soyer, Engineer in Environment, along with Mlanie Bnazet, Jurist in
Environmental Affairs.
The Memorandum was translated into English by Nancy Peterson.
Reviewers : Richard Clapp, James Clark, Philippe Desbrosses, Dany Dietmann, Marc Dufumier,
Patrick Edder, Lennart Hardell, Vyvyan Howard, Genon Jensen, Henrik Leffers, Lylian Le Goff,
Corinne Lepage, Christian Levque, Andreas Lischka, Pierre Mneton, Jean Franois Narbonne, John
Newby, Andr Picot, Maurice Rabache, Thierry Schlumpf, Gilles-Eric Sralini, Charles Sultan,
Franois Veillerette, Joseph Wampach, Catherine Wattiez, Christophe Zeilas.

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Appendix 4: Mortality rate per 100.000 individuals

(U.S.A.) - Source : Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC)

700
600
Maladies
cardiovasculaires

500
400
300
Cancer
200
100
0
1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2002

Relative stability of cancer mortality over the last 50 years in the United States

98