Wait wait. They’re not going to ban toxic chemicals in consumer goods?
Is this something like “Na is toxic. Cl is toxic. NaCl is tasty.”?
It’s more things that the US would call “Generally Recognised As Safe” or GRAS. Stuff that was tested in the 70s and written off as fine, in spite of the fact that it does have some negative effects. Typically the effects don’t occur immediately in small doses, only very large doses, however at the time there was no real study done on the effects of continuous low doses over a long period. More recent research has determined that they are in fact harmful in this way.
However, getting businesses to change is hard, because money, and it sounds like they’ve managed to get the EU to back off. Shame.
deleted by creator
Hmm… it is probably not toxic in traditional sense. Otherwise everything can be dangerous, even water.
Also some people noted that general products are in focus here, not only food. This is a subtle but huge difference.
I guess we make too much money with poisoning our people.
“A little poison builds character”.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The EU has abandoned a promise to ban all but the most vital of toxic chemicals used in everyday consumer products, leaked documents show.
PFAS – also known as forever chemicals – accumulate in nature and in our bodies where they can damage the endocrine, immune and reproductive systems.
The planned ban would have taken thousands of the most hazardous products off the market but it is now unclear whether the proposals will be mothballed or buried.
An EU official declined to comment on the leaked documents but said: “It’s no surprise that the Reach revision doesn’t feature in the work programme.
An earlier leak of the EU’s chemicals plans reported by the Guardian in July showed the scope of the bloc’s ambition had been weakened in the face of intense industry pressure, which was backed by EU political leaders including the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
The Green MEP Bas Eickhout said: “It’s very clear that there’s not enough appetite with this commission to have a proper revision of the Reach regulation, so let’s make it a campaign issue in the June 2024 elections.
The original article contains 569 words, the summary contains 184 words. Saved 68%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
So what are these hazardous products that are currently on the market?
deleted by creator
The link in the article mentions six groups of substances (anilines, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, mycotoxins and PAHs) as known or presumed carcinogenic. Another list gives suspected carcinogenic chemicals. These include acrylamide and some aprotic solvents, benzophenones, flame retardants, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and pesticides. Benzene, formaldehyde and silica dust, which are used widely, are not on this list but are associated with leukaemia and lung cancer.
https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/environmental-burden-of-cancer/chemicals
No idea about concrete products though. PFAS is in frying pans (teflon) and Gore-Tex at least.
