24 February 2013
Govt must act on new toxic chemicals report
A new report which links endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals to increasing rates of cancer and other health
problems highlights the need for greater use of the precautionary principle by Government when approving the use of
chemicals, the Green Party said today.
The State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organization, identifies that over 800
chemicals are known or suspected to be capable of interfering with hormone receptors. The report says this number is the
tip of the iceberg with around 145,000 chemicals yet to be assessed for their ability to disrupt our endocrine, or
hormone system.
“The Government should take this report seriously and think about how New Zealand can help enable a greater
understanding of these chemicals and how to protect people from them,” said Green Party toxics spokesperson Catherine
Delahunty.
“The Government could take a more precautionary approach when classifying hazardous chemicals and also look at requiring
better labelling.
“However, labelling of chemicals is unhelpful if people don’t know the chemical is potentially harmful, so greater
education of the public is necessary as well.
“There is strong evidence that some chemicals in common household items such as air fresheners, anti-bacterial soaps,
and cleaning products are endocrine disruptors, yet the public is largely unaware.
“The Government needs to respond to this report positively and better protect New Zealanders from the dangers of
endocrine disrupting chemicals,” Ms Delahunty said.
Reference:
UNEP news release: http://unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=2704=9403=en
Full State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals report: http://unep.org/pdf/9789241505031_eng.pdf
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