Health and environment heads demand policies to raise public protection from chemical pollution

Heads of 18 environmental non-government organisations and health charities have written to Defra under secretary Rebecca Pow calling for government policy to “properly protects wildlife and our environment from the harms of chemical pollution.”

The authors of the letter have proposed a strategy with 12 “key asks” that they made two years ago, highlighting four:

• phase out the most hazardous chemicals from consumer products for all non-essential uses

• protect UK citizens and the environment from endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals;

• speed up regulation of of harmful substances by grouping chemically similar ones; and

• address the “cocktail effect” (the combined effects of mixtures of chemical pollutants).

The letter also calls for the so-called forever chemicals such polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that can persist for centuries.

The letter authors said their Chemicals Strategy was “an opportunity to determine a bold vision to ensure this protection and to prevent future pollution.”

They cited:

• the UN in its statement that pollution was “one of the five key drivers of biodiversity loss”;

• the Lancet Commission’s finding that one six deaths were caused by pollution; and

• Other scientists’ findings that pollution levels had “surpassed the safe operating limits for our planet”.

They added: “The UK public is concerned about the state of the UK’s waterways, and the media is increasingly reporting on chemical pollution across the UK”