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Dear Madam or Sir,
We are writing this e-mail to inform you that we have sent the below joint letter, on behalf of 26 European and national civil society organisations, to your Ministers in charge of Environment and Competitiveness.
Kind regards,
Stefan Scheuer (Chief EU Policy advocate at CHEM Trust) and Genon K. Jensen (Executive Director of HEAL)
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Dear Minister,
European civil society organisations are calling on you to strengthen the Toys safety legislation, ensuring toys will be toxic-free and guaranteeing the highest level of protection for our children.
The European Commission evaluation from 2020 made clear that the current Toys safety directive needed to be improved to adequately protect children from the most harmful chemicals in toys. [1] However, the Commission’s proposal for updating the law contains several gaps.
The European Parliament has recently voted almost unanimously to fix this and make sure the reform fulfils the commitments made in the Chemicals strategy for sustainability.
We call on you to support European Parliament's improvements to the Commission proposal, and in particular to ensure that the new regulation:- Restricts the groups of 'forever chemicals', PFAS, and bisphenols in toys;
- Broadens the scope for restricting all the most harmful chemicals, and covers those that build up in human bodies and persist in the environment (PMT, vPvM, PBT, vPvB); and
- Sets strict rules for derogations to the generic restrictions.
Children are particularly vulnerable to harmful chemicals and have higher risks of adverse health effects, some of which can have a lifelong impact. The substances listed above are linked to certain types of cancer, and can impair the immune and endocrine systems - they can have adverse impacts even at very low doses. PFAS chemicals, known as 'forever chemicals' because they take generations to break down, can accumulate inside children's bodies. [2]
We expect EU lawmakers to guarantee that children are given adequate care and attention, based on all the scientific evidence available.
Our community of NGOs, medical and parents' associations is counting on you to ensure children’s health and safety!
We would like to inform you that this letter will be made public.
Thank you for your consideration,
Stefan Scheuer (Chief EU Policy advocate at CHEM Trust) and Genon K. Jensen (Executive Director of HEAL) on behalf of the following organisations:- Arnika - Toxics and Waste Programme - Karolína Brabcová
- Associazione Culturale Pediatri - Stefania Manetti
- Bond Beter Leefmilieu - Danny Jacobs
- Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) - Giulia Carlini
- CHEM Trust
- Child Rights International Network - Suzanne Astic
- Ecologistas en Acción - Kistiñe García
- Environmental Coalition on Standards (ECOS) - Emily Best
- European Confederation of Primary Care Paediatricians - Laura Reali
- European Environmental Bureau - Patrick ten Brink
- Fundación Alborada - Pilar Muñoz-Calero
- Générations Futures - Yoann Coulmont
- GLOBAL 2000 - FOE Austria - Helmut Burtscher-Schaden
- Health & Environment Alliance (HEAL)
- Health and Environment Justice Support (HEJSupport) - Alexandra Caterbow, Olga Speranskaya
- Hogar sin Tóxicos - Carlos de Prada
- ISDE (International Society of Doctors for Environment Italy) - Francesco Romizi
- Journalists for Human Rights - Andrea Nakova
- Mutualités Libres/Onafhankelijke Ziekenfondsen - Xavier Brenez
- Portuguese Society of Environmental Health - Susana Paixão
- Réseau Environnement Santé - André Cicolella
- Safer Chemicals Alternative (ALHem) - Jasminka Randelovic
- Tegengif - Annelies den Boer
- Wen (Women’s Environmental Network) - Kate Metcalf
- Women Engage for a Common Future - WECF - Sascha Gabizon
- ZERO - Susana Fonseca
[1] European Commission, evaluation of the Toy Safety Directive (19 Nov. 2020)
[2] European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology, statement - The Detrimental Impact of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances on Children (9 Nov. 2023)
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