A report of Child Rights International Network (CRIN) denounces that the setback in the control of toxic substances in the EU threatens the right to health of millions of children. Children have more toxins in their bodies than adults and, being in the midst of growth, they are more vulnerable to their harmful effects. Poor European legislation allows children’s products such as toys, diapers or toiletries to contain chemical contamination.
A report[ de Child Rights International Network (CRIN) denuncia que la mala legislación europea sobre las sustancias tóxicas atenta gravemente contra algunos derechos fundamentales de los niños como, entre otros, el derecho a la vida, a la salud, a la integridad corporal y a un medio ambiente sano. Se violan con ello diferentes acuerdos internacionales vinculantes firmados por la UE y sus estados miembros como, entre otros, el propio Tratado de la UE o la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos de la Infancia. CRIN hace un llamamiento a que la UE “cumpla los compromisos que contrajo cuando presentó la Estrategia de Productos Químicos para la Sostenibilidad (2020) y la Estrategia sobre los Derechos del Niño (2021)” y deje de ceder ante las presiones de la industria química europea, que ha logrado diluir las restricciones de sustancias tóxicas que habrían reducido la exposición de los niños.
En opinión de Carlos de Prada, responsable de la iniciativa Hogar sin Tóxicos que, como Child Rights International Network (CRIN), colabora con el European Environmental Bureau (EEB) en la difusión de los riesgos de las sustancias tóxicas, “lamentablemente, si la Comisión Europea no rectifica sus recientes decisiones, como la de frustrar la necesaria reforma del deficiente reglamento REACH de productos químicos, o la de frenar la reducción del uso de los pesticidas, los niños europeos seguirán expuestos durante mucho tiempo a una serie de riesgos innecesarios”.
El informe de Child Rights International Network (CRIN) denuncia que la UE “no ha acometido la necesaria revisión y mejora de la defectuosa ley global sobre sustancias químicas de la UE, el reglamento REACH. Mientras, los niños están pagando el precio, en perjuicio de su salud y del medio ambiente, suponiendo una clara negación de sus derechos. Algo que, además tiene un impacto importante en los servicios nacionales de salud, las economías y el bienestar social”.
Pérdida de coeficiente intelectual y otros daños graves por contaminación química
Como recuerda Carlos de Prada, “los niños son las víctimas principales de las sustancias tóxicas. No solo las tienen en sus cuerpos en mayor cantidad que los adultos sino que, al estar en su etapa de desarrollo, son más sensibles a sus efectos. La ciencia ha constatado que concentraciones bajísimas de algunas sustancias, como aquellas capaces de alterar el equilibrio hormonal, pueden causar alteraciones irreversibles en los niños[x]”. The report of Child Rights International Network (CRIN) cites scientific research that has associated exposure to toxic substances in early stages of life with effects such as increased risk of childhood cancers, loss of IQ, asthma, diabetes, obesity, etc.
As an example of the damage that endocrine-disrupting substances can cause in childhood, Carlos de Prada mentions the reports that were published at the time by the world’s leading scientific entity on the subject, the Endocrine Society. They warned, for example, that exposure to organophosphate pesticide residues, very common as residues in non-organic foods, could be causing, among other effects, the annual loss of 13 million IQ points in children. of the EU.
The report of Child Rights International Network (CRIN) criticizes that the European Parliament rejected in November 2023 the plan to improve the current poor pesticide regulations, a regulation that has allowed “daily and continuous exposure of children to dangerous pesticides in the EU.” The European Environment Agency (EEA), like other entities, has shown that pesticide concentrations in children are higher than in adults, with infants being more sensitive to their harmful effects.
Numerous reports confirm chemical contamination
The document also denounces the deficient legislation that allows the presence of many toxic substances in toys and other children’s products. An evaluation by the European Commission itself found serious deficiencies, for example, in the European Toy Safety Directive, mainly for not properly taking into account scientific knowledge when assessing the risk for children.
Child Rights International Network (CRIN) cites that the Danish Consumer Council found toxic bisphenols in 60% of children’s products analyzed (for example, in half of children’s teething products). The Dutch organization Tegentif, for its part, found different substances in plastic toys identified as highly worrying by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). It also denounces the large number of times that the European Safety Gate rapid alert system reveals the presence of toxic substances in toys. The European Commission proposed in 2023 to improve regulations on toys, but it is waiting for it to be duly materialized.
According to the report of Child Rights International Network (CRIN), not even baby diapers are free from containing very dangerous substances such as formaldehyde, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or dioxins. The official French agency ANSES found 38 very dangerous substances in diapers sold in the EU and made a formal proposal to restrict several substances in 2021. However, the EU decided not to adopt adequate measures, so the problem persists despite being known. .
Carcinogenic, mutagenic or reproductive toxic substances
In November 2023, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published a report concluding that hazardous, carcinogenic, mutagenic or reproductively toxic substances may be present in many child care products, such as toiletries, diapers, car seats. and mattresses. Among the most frequently detected substances were some such as lead and phthalates. A proposal to restrict the presence of such substances at EU level has been worked on, but it remains to be seen how it will materialise.
The CRIN report highlights that there are “key promises that remain unfulfilled, as is the case of the so-called 2022 Restrictions Roadmap” by which the European Commission announced plans to severely restrict or ban thousands of very dangerous substances. Such an initiative is far from advancing adequately due to industrial pressures, so it is quite likely that known dangerous substances such as bisphenols, PFAS, phthalates and flame retardants, among others, will continue to be used for a long time in the EU.
The report also calls for a ban on exporting outside the EU those substances whose use on EU territory is prohibited due to their dangers. These substances are frequently exported to countries where, due to their few preventive measures, the damage caused to children can be greater than in the EU.
Babies are born already contaminated
A worrying circumstance is that, as reported Child Rights International Network (CRIN), “babies are already born precontaminated.” Children’s exposure to toxic substances begins before birth, during fetal development, a particularly sensitive period in which pollutants can generate more profound effects. Some of the effects could manifest even decades later, in what is known as the “fetal origin of adult diseases.” But later, during childhood, they remain especially vulnerable.
Child Rights International Network (CRIN) calls for a profound reform of legislation on chemicals, so that the legal duties to which the EU is obliged under different European and United Nations treaties are no longer breached. “The defense of children must come first, and take precedence, as a higher interest, when undertaking the necessary improvement of the EU’s legislation on chemical substances,” argues this organization.
According to the report of Child Rights International Network (CRIN), “as things stand, children live in a legal environment that is failing to protect them.” The document denounces that despite the laws and policies developed “there are dangerous substances still present everywhere: in food, in the air, in water and in everyday products.” Every year, 196 million tons of substances dangerous to health are used in the EU, as reflected in the document.
Incomplete evaluations
One of the most worrying aspects that it denounces is that countless chemical products continue to be marketed without it having been previously demonstrated that they do not represent health risks. Data provided by the European Environment Agency (EEA) show that only 500 of the 100,000 synthetic chemicals circulating on the European market have been more or less adequately assessed for toxicity.
Also, recent data from the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) have shown that the general European population has an “alarmingly high” internal exposure to multiple harmful substances, especially in children. The report of Child Rights International Network (CRIN) denounces that, if action is not taken now, the damage will only increase, as the use of toxic chemicals grows and persistent substances accumulate in the environment.