Irish campaigners seeking an end to so-called “forever chemicals” have welcomed a European commitment to ban or restrict thousands of toxic or harmful substances.
A “restrictions roadmap” for the European Commission’s chemical strategy, published on Monday, will further its aim to “bring about a toxic-free environment and to protect people and the environment from hazardous chemicals”.
Among these are a group known as PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), or “forever chemicals” used in numerous consumer products.
"They're toxic chemicals; there's a group of about 4,700 of them. Some of the worst ones have already been banned but not the whole group," said Angela Ruttledge, policy officer at the Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment group which has campaigned for their prohibition.
“They are bio-accumulative so they persist in the environment and they build up over time. And \[the issue of their continued use is important] particularly when we’re talking about the circular economy so much.”
Last year, Voice called for a ban on their use in food packaging, given much of it is deemed combustible and can return the chemicals to the soil, creating an endless cycle Ms Ruttledge says undermines the point of a successful circular economy.
In a submission to the Oireachtas environment committee last year, Voice noted "if this compost is used to grow crops, then the PFAS may ultimately find their way into our food chain as some PFAS accumulate in plants and vegetables".
In response to the EU Commission publication, Ms Ruttledge welcomed the move to examine groups of chemicals, rather than single ones which can be replaced.
Welcoming the move on Monday, the European Environmental Bureau, a pan-European watchdog, said it represented "the largest ever regulatory removal of authorised chemicals anywhere", which it believes will begin within the next two years and could mean all listed substances gone by 2030.
Among those highlighted by the bureau are: flame-retardant substances linked to cancer; bisphenols used in plastics that “disrupt human hormones”; and all forms of PVC, the least recyclable plastic that contains large amounts of toxic additives.
The organisation also noted about 2,000 harmful chemicals found in baby diapers, pacifiers and childcare products.
A Department of the Environment spokesman welcomed the roadmap’s publication as a first step towards regulating “whole groups” of harmful chemicals, as opposed to a “substance-by-substance” approach that had been the norm.
"Ireland therefore notes the significant ambition of the commission to achieve a toxic-free environment and to improve the safety and health of workers and consumers across Europe, " he said, adding that Ireland would "positively contribute" to its development.
‘Great detox’
Industry resistance is anticipated, but the roadmap is a clear indication of Europe’s intention to crack down on the widespread use of harmful chemicals in consumer and other products. Last year, EU research found more than eight in 10 people were worried about the impact of chemicals in everyday items.
"This great detox promises to improve the safety of almost all manufactured products and rapidly lower the chemical intensity of our schools, homes and workplaces," said bureau chemicals policy manager Tatiana Santos.
The commission published its chemicals strategy for sustainability towards a toxic-free environment in October 2020 as part of the European Green Deal. Monday’s roadmap includes a “rolling list” of restrictions “planned, prepared and progressed”, in particular for the most harmful substances.
Ireland's Environmental Protection Agency, which has specific roles covering chemicals under a range of regulations, said it would "be watching these developments closely in the context of our roles and responsibilities in the protection of the environment from chemicals".
