By Martha Moss - 30th November 2010
Most of the effects [of these chemicals] are invisible which makes it more difficult to see the connection
EPP deputy Sirpa Pietikäinen
I can't stop the toxic trespass of these chemicals so that's where governments are tasked to take action
Sandra Steingraber, US biologist and cancer survivor
We want swifter action in bringing pesticides that are known carcinogens off the market
Genon Jensen, executive director of the Health and Environment Alliance
MEPs, cancer survivors and health campaigners have urged the EU to target environmental policy to cancer prevention.
Scientists, EU deputies and health groups came together to discuss the link between environmental pollutants and cancer at an event at the European parliament on Monday.
The debate came as research compiled by Andrew Watterson, of the UK's Stirling university, and the Health and Environment Alliance (Heal), showed a 14 percentage point increase in EU-wide cancer rates between 2009 and 2020.
Sandra Steingraber, a US biologist, cancer survivor and environmental campaigner, called on policymakers to live up to their responsibility in protecting citizens from health risks.
Steingraber was diagnosed with bladder cancer - which she describes as a "quintessential" environmental cancer - at the age of 20, having been exposed to high levels of dry cleaning fluids in drinking water.
"I can't stop the toxic trespass of these chemicals so that's where governments are tasked to take action - in protecting citizens from dangers that they can't protect themselves from. We need to divorce our economy from those chemicals," she told TheParliament.com.
"Cancer is a human rights issue, and the growing evidence that environment is playing a much larger role in the story of cancer than had been previously appreciated gives us a moral responsibility to take a look at these chemicals and remove them from food and water.
"From a precautionary point of view, and from a human rights point of view, I don't think we should be exposing people to carcinogens."
Efforts to "denormalise" tobacco had proved successful, said Steingraber, who wants to see a similar approach towards cancer-causing environmental factors.
"I'm calling for us to denormalise carcinogens, simply remove them out of the economy," she added.
BPA decision 'a first step'
The discussion came after the European commission last week announced that the controversial chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) would be banned in baby bottles from 2011.
European health commissioner John Dalli said there were "areas of uncertainty" over the safety of BPA, and highlighted "new studies, which showed that BPA might have an effect on development, immune response and tumour promotion".
Steingraber sees the decision as "a first step" but insists there is "no safe threshold" for exposure. "I have very little doubt that exposure should be brought down to zero," she said.
Genon Jensen, the executive director of Heal, which helped organise the event, said she was calling on the EU to phase out suspected carcinogens as a matter of urgency. "We want swifter action in bringing pesticides that are known carcinogens off the market," she said.
Heal also wants the REACH chemical legislated to bring forward the date (from 2020 to 2015) of a planned review of potentially carcinogenic chemicals "because of need to get them off the market as soon as possible", said Jensen.
"The EU could be much more proactive and ambitious in prevention," she added, pointing to a recent Eurobarometer survey showing that 72 per cent of consumers were worried about pesticide residues in food.
Sirpa Pietikäinen, a Finnish EPP deputy who attended the event, told this website it was important to raise awareness of the "interconnectedness" between the environment and cancer.
The panellists raised an interesting point in discussing the visibility of chemical impacts, she said, adding, "most of the effects are invisible which makes it more difficult to see the connection".
Pietikäinen, who sits on parliament's environment, public health and food safety committee, said the EU was "taking slow steps in restricting the use of chemicals", but added that much more needed to be done.
While health remains a national competency, environment policies are becoming more harmonised at EU level, she said.
This, she added, means that European policymakers can make law-binding decisions as well as resolutions on policies in this area.
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