A Major Step Forward

Sharyle Patton, Lisette van Vliet and Genón Jenson
CHE Partners

A major step forward in the discussion and development of policy to regulate chemicals with endocrine disrupting properties occurred last week when the European Commission released an important report, “State of the Art of the Assessment of Endocrine Disruptors.” The voluminous report, written by Professor Andreas Kortenkamp and a specially constituted research team, was contracted by the Directorate-General of Environment in the European Commission, a unit which is responsible for the overarching strategy document guiding European Union actions on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The report will inform both the revision of this strategy, now 12 years old, and the Commission’s deliberations on how to improve existing and develop specific future EU regulatory processes that define, identify and regulate EDCs. In particular, the report will serve to inform the EU’s work over the next two years to develop the criteria that will be used to identify and regulate hormone disruptors under the EU Pesticides and Biocides laws, and to some extent REACH *(the so-called industrial chemicals regulation). Later these criteria will potentially be deployed in other relevant EU laws, such as those on cosmetics, food contact materials, and toys safety.

What are my reflections on CHE after ten years?

Michael Lerner
President of Commonweal and co-founder and vice-chair of CHE

I’m grateful.

• Grateful that science is our shared language.
• Grateful that science progresses through dialogue.
• Grateful that dialogue requires mutual respect.

“Science & Civility” is CHE’s core value. We practice it every day.

“If CHE didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it,” a friend recently said. CHE actually invented itself. We co-created this global community of over 4,000 in over forty countries through our work together. We began with forty friends, gathered at San Francisco Medical Society and Commonweal, committed to exploring how the environment is affecting our health and the health of our children. Now our partnership has multiplied over one hundred fold. Leading scientists, physicians, health practitioners, patient advocates, environmental health advocates, foundation officers, government officials, and concerned world citizens make CHE what it is.