memorandum of the paris appeal -2006

7/25/2019 Memorandum of the Paris Appeal -2006

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Memorandum ofthe Paris AppealEnvironment and sustainable health

164 measures drawn up by68 international experts

Thursday, 9 November, 2006UNESCO, Paris

For the benefit of the peoples and governments ofthe European Union Member States, of the

European Parliament, of the Council and of theCommission.


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The Paris Appeal has now been signed by many international scientific key figures and by theStanding Committee of European Doctors (SCED) which represents all medical governing bodiesand medical organizations in the 25 EU Member States.

This Appeal underlines the relationship of cause and effect between chemical pollution anddiseases.

In order to preserve childrens health and the health of future generations, it is vital that theEuropean Union and all Member States consider the preservation of health and the environmentas the central issue of all public policies.

The concept of sustainable development, focused on preserving the earths resources to meetthe needs of future generations, is insufficient. We need to supplement it with the concept ofsustainable health, which aims at preserving the health of future generations. Whereas, today,citizens and their health serve economic development, economic development must begin toserve citizens health.

In the Memorandum of the Paris Appeal, 68 international experts propose 164 Recommendations

and Measures to implement in the field of environmental health, in order to avoid or soften thepublic health crises that all EU Member States are facing and are likely to face tomorrow.

These Recommendations and Measures concern diseases mainly related to chemical pollution:cancers, sterility, congenital malformations, obesity, diseases of the nervous system, allergies

They press for:(1) The withdrawal of Carcinogenic, Mutagenic and Reprotoxic (CMR) chemical substances

from the market, as, for example, formaldehyde, some phthalates (DEHP), bisphenol A,cadmium and mercury, as well as their derivatives, and consequently, the reinforcementof the European regulatory project REACH;

(2) The withdrawal of organobrominated products from the market due to the very highreactivity of bromine with ozone and thus, the possible worsening of the depletion of thestratospheric ozone layer;

(3) Marketing authorization for pesticides, food additives and cosmetics following a regulatoryprocess comparable to the one used for medicines;

(4) The planned decrease in the use of pesticides in the agricultural field and thus, a reformof the Common Agricultural Policy;

(5) The recovery of wastes through selective sorting and recycling in place of incinerationand co-incineration;

(6) The creation of a European Agency and a Research Institute for the Improvement ofwaste management and treatment;

(7) The need to direct the 7th framework program of the European Community for Research

and technological development towards ecology and prevention of environmentaldisease, and not only towards genetics and treatments;

(8) Ecology and hygiene education from the earliest age and(9) The creation of a new medical speciality: environmental medicine.

These measures are all feasible in practice, provided we have the political willpower. Europemust encourage industrial and agricultural reconversion through targeted legislative and financialincentives, aimed at stimulating Research and Development (R&D), especially in the field ofgreen chemistry. As Europe takes into account environmental issues, it must create new jobs andbecome the spearhead of a truly clean industry worldwide.

Consulted experts come from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France,Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain,

Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.


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Contents

INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________________ 10

Title I- The concept of sustainable health_______________________________________ 12

CHAPTER 1:CROSS-COMPLIANCE OF HEALTH TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT_____________ 12

CHAPTER 2:CROSS-COMPLIANCE OF HEALTH TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT __________ 12CHAPTER 3:RECONCILING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH _________________ 13CHAPTER 4:SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATIONS OF SUSTAINABLE HEALTH_____________________ 14

Title II- General recommendations and measures ________________________________ 15

CHAPTER 1:ENVIRONMENTAL AND SANITARY POLICY IN EUROPE. ____________________ 15R1: Integrating health protection in public policies. ...................................................15R2: Extending the concept of sustainable development to health..............................15R3: Principles governing the concept of sustainable health.......................................15R4: Revision of the European Constitutional Treaty. Priority given to environmentalprotection and sustainable health..............................................................................15

CHAPTER 2:EUROPEAN LEGISLATION. ________________________________________ 16

R5: Simplifying legislation and clarifying community law. The need for a genuineenvironmental health policy.......................................................................................16R6: Marketing Authorizations. The need for an independent scientific assessment. .17R7: Spheres of activities not covered by the European law.......................................17

CHAPTER 3:ADAPTATION OF DIRECTIVES TO NATIONAL LAW,CONTROLS AND INSPECTIONS. _ 18R8: Adaptation of directives. The need for reinforced sanctions................................18R9: Application of regulations, directives and decisions. The need for reinforcedcontrol means. ..........................................................................................................18

CHAPTER 4: ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION TO THE DECISION-MAKINGPROCESS. _____________________________________________________________ 18

R10: Stepping up transparency and information when drawing up measures andduring the decision making process by European authorities....................................18R-M11: Joint discussions between industry representatives and NGOs....................19M12:Official recognition for NGOs............................................................................19M13: Subsidies granted to NGOs..............................................................................19

CHAPTER 5: PARTICIPATION OF EUROPEAN CITIES AND TOWNS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OFSUSTAINABLE HEALTH POLICIES WITHIN THE MEMBER STATES AND IN THE APPLICATION OFCOMMUNITY LAW IN THE FIELDS OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT. _____________________ 19

R-M14: European Charter of town councils for the protection of the environment andhealth........................................................................................................................20R15: Reinforcing penalties. Introducing penalty measures in community law............20R-M16: Extending the polluter pays principle to health in order to guarantee theremedying of the sanitary damage caused. Penalties in case of severe and

irreversible physical injuries. .....................................................................................21R-M17: Applying the law uniformly in all the territories coming under the authority ofthe Member States. ..................................................................................................21R18: Sanctions for companies that do not comply with the bans on the marketing ofproducts....................................................................................................................21R-M19: Reinforcing the competence of international jurisdictions and penaltiesregarding health and environment, in case of trans-boundary pollutions...................22

A. Internalization of pollution.................................................................................22B. Legal inadequacy of the polluter pays principle. .............................................22

Title III- Protecting children__________________________________________________ 23

CHAPTER 1 :PROTECTING PREGNANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN_______________________ 23

R20: Vulnerability of children. ...................................................................................23A. Scientific arguments. ........................................................................................23


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B. Sanitary and socioeconomic arguments. ..........................................................24CHAPTER 2: REVISION OF TOXICOLOGICAL STANDARDS AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES TO FORBIDMARKETING AUTHORIZATION. _______________________________________________ 25

R21: Adaptation of toxicological standards to the embryo and children.....................25R22: Cumulative toxicity and synergetic effects of chemical substances...................25M23: Withdrawal of CMR substances from the market..............................................25M24: Withdrawal from the market of chemical substances which transfer to theplacenta....................................................................................................................26M25: Assessment of thresholds for non-CMR chemical substances. ........................26

CHAPTER 3 :HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES_______________________________ 26M26: Measuring out of mercury in fish and seafood..................................................26M27: Ban on medical and cosmetic products containing mercury. ............................26M28: Mercury ban in maternities, crches, hospitals and schools.............................27M29: Aldehydes and indoor air pollution. Ban on the use of formaldehyde. ..............27M30: Ban on the use of aldehydes known to be toxic, in particular formaldehyde inpharmaceutical and cosmetic products. ....................................................................27M31: Phthalates and medical plastics. Ban on the use of DEHP...............................27

CHAPTER 4 :PESTICIDES,FOOD ADDITIVES AND DIET. _____________________________ 28R32: Family policy and decrease in pollution due to reprotoxic substances. .............28R33: Stepping up criteria regarding the marketing of pesticides. Revision of directive91/414/EEC. .............................................................................................................29M34: Infant foods using organic farming produce......................................................30M35: Newborns and food additives...........................................................................30

CHAPTER 5 :OBESITY,CANCERS,ALLERGIES___________________________________ 30R-M36: Overweight and obesity in children...............................................................30M37: Organic foods in school cafeterias. ..................................................................31R38: Childhood cancers. Location of new schools. ...................................................31R39: Childhood cancers and high voltage powerlines...............................................31R40: Portable and cordless phones. .........................................................................31

R41: Allergy management.........................................................................................32Title IV- Marketing of chemical substances _____________________________________ 34

CHAPTER 1 :THE SUBSTITUTION PRINCIPLE AND REACHREGULATION________________ 34R42: REACH Regulation...........................................................................................34R43: Obligation to use substitute products when they are not as hazardous.............34M44: Withdrawal of CMR substances from the market..............................................35R-M45: Regulation regarding CMR substances which have not been withdrawn fromthe market, because there is no substitute and these substances are consideredessential. ..................................................................................................................35R46: Traceability and labeling of hazardous substances...........................................35

CHAPTER 2 :RECONVERSION OF THE INDUSTRY AND GREEN CHEMISTRY_______________ 36

R47: Reconversion aid for the chemical industry. .....................................................36M48: Financial incentives to market clean products. .................................................36R49: Development of Green Chemistry.....................................................................36

CHAPTER 3 : HAZARDOUS TOXIC SUBSTANCES TO BE WITHDRAWN FROM THE MARKET AS APRIORITY______________________________________________________________ 37

M50: Aldehydes. .......................................................................................................37M51: Phthalates........................................................................................................37M52: Glycol ethers....................................................................................................38M53: Bisphenol A......................................................................................................39M54: Mercury............................................................................................................39M55: Bromine and its derivatives. .............................................................................40

CHAPTER 4 :REGULATION ON TOXIC PRODUCTS_________________________________ 40M56: Paints and coatings..........................................................................................40M57: Lead paints. .....................................................................................................40


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R-M58: Treatment of indoor wood.............................................................................41R-M59: Brominated flame-retardants. .......................................................................42R-M60: Electrical and electronic appliances..............................................................43R-M61: Ban on brominated products. .......................................................................43R-M62: Cosmetic products........................................................................................44R63: Commonly used products.................................................................................44R64: Taxation of non recyclable products and packaging. ........................................45

CHAPTER 5 :FOODSTUFF REGULATION. _______________________________________ 45R-M65: Nutritional quality of foods. ...........................................................................45R-M66: Packaging of foodstuffs. ...............................................................................46R67: Advertising and labeling of foodstuffs. ..............................................................47R68: Nutritional allegations. ......................................................................................47R-M69: Food additives. Revision of directive 89/107/EEC in the form of a regulation..................................................................................................................................47R-M70: Plant-protection products, pesticides. Revision of directive 91/414/EEC in theform of a regulation...................................................................................................48R-M71: Ban on the marketing and use of imidaclopride and fipronil..........................49

M72: Remedying the loss related to imidaclopride and fipronil..................................50R-M73: Pesticide residue in foods. New procedures for the marketing authorization ofpesticides..................................................................................................................50M74: Applicability of the new marketing procedures for pesticides............................51M75: Sanctions regarding the use of prohibited pesticides or the non-compliance toauthorized doses. .....................................................................................................51

Title V- Air, water and soil pollution ___________________________________________ 52

CHAPTER 1:GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT AIR POLLUTION _____________________ 52CHAPTER 2:OUTDOOR AIR POLLUTION________________________________________ 53

2.1 Atmospheric dust __________________________________________________ 53R-M76: Particles PM 2.5 and PM 10. The inadequacy of the CAFE directive

proposal....................................................................................................................532.2 Road, air and maritime traffic _________________________________________ 54

M77: Electrification of public transport. .....................................................................54R-M78: Reduction of city road traffic. ........................................................................54R-M79: Standards on engine- and exhaust-related pollution.....................................55R-M80: Regulatory standards on diesel engine particulate emissions.......................55M81: Cutting down sulfur contents in fuels................................................................56M82: Decrease in the benzene content of gasoline...................................................56R-M83: Non-road mobile machinery running in confined spaces. .............................56R-M84: Diesel engine control....................................................................................56

2.3: Industrial pollution _________________________________________________ 57R-M85: Regulatory compliance of industrial activities. ..............................................57

R-M86: Revision of directive 96/61/EC in the form of a regulation.............................57R-M87: Industrial emissions of dust, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides....................57R-M88: Trans-boundary pollution. Limit values for emissions (LVE) for pollutants inthe air. Inadequacy of the CAFE directive proposal. ...............................................58R-M89: National thresholds for emissions of atmospheric pollutants.........................59

CHAPTER 3: STRATOSPHERIC OZONE DEPLETION DUE TO VOLATILE CHLORINATED ANDBROMINATED SUBSTANCES_________________________________________________ 59

R-M90: Chlorinated and brominated products. Chlorine and bromine emissions in theatmosphere...............................................................................................................60

CHAPTER 4:INDOOR AIR POLLUTION__________________________________________ 60R-M91: The right to healthy indoor air.......................................................................61M92: Passive smoking..............................................................................................61R-M93: Indoor air pollution........................................................................................62R-M94: On-site sampling and green ambulances. ..................................................62


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R-M95: Traceability and labeling of raw materials, furniture and indoor products......62M96: Ban on materials, furniture and indoor products discharging toxic volatilesubstances. ..............................................................................................................62M97: Additional regulation regarding asbestos..........................................................62M98: Terms of the removal of asbestos. Ban on the removal of asbestos carried outin non-EU countries. .................................................................................................63M99: Chimney sweeping of boilers containing asbestos and containment of asbestossheets.......................................................................................................................63R-M100: Indemnification of asbestos victims and criminal sentences. ......................64R-M101: Substitutes for asbestos. ............................................................................64R-M102: Sanitary warning regarding pollution with nanoparticles released fromnanomaterials used in nanotechnologies. .................................................................64R-M103: Radon. .......................................................................................................65R-M104: Measurement of radon in water..................................................................65R-M105: Indoor air renewal and thermal insulation...................................................65

CHAPTER 5 :GENERALITY ON WATER AND SOIL POLLUTION_________________________ 66R-M106: Water pollution. Stepping up framework directive 2000/60/EC. ..................66

R-M107: Soil pollution...............................................................................................66CHAPTER 6 : USE OF NITRATES AND PESTICIDES, AND REFORM OF THE COMMONAGRICULTURAL POLICY. ___________________________________________________ 67

R-M108: Decrease in the agricultural use of nitrates. Stepping up directive91/676/EEC in the form of a regulation. ....................................................................67M109: Ban on the use of fertilizers rich in cadmium. .................................................68M110: Inspections, controls and sanctions regarding the agricultural use ofpesticides..................................................................................................................68M111: Regulation on good agricultural practices.......................................................68M112: Inventory regarding the use of pesticides in the Union. ..................................69M113: Ban on the spraying of pesticides with non controlled means.........................69M114: Plan for a programmed reduction of pesticide use. ........................................69

M115: Certification of pesticide retailers and users. ..................................................70M116: Ban on the use of pesticides in areas of water harnessing and other wetlands..................................................................................................................................70M117: Increased support for organic farming in water harnessing areas and otherwetlands. ..................................................................................................................70M118: Ban on the use of pesticides in public areas. .................................................70R-M119: Revision of the Common Agricultural Policy. ..............................................70M120: Taxation of agricultural chemical inputs..........................................................72M121: Subsidies to institutional/school catering........................................................72M122: Subsidies to organic farming. .........................................................................73R-M123: Stepping up organic farming. Revision of the regulation proposal planned inplace of Regulation (EEC) N2092/91................ .......................................................74

M124: Ban on the export of pesticides banned on the European market to othercountries. ..................................................................................................................74M125: Ban on the export of produce for which farmers were subsidized...................74M126: Quality labels : Regulation on pesticide use. ..................................................75M127: Ban on open-field GMOs crops, taxation of imported GMOs intended foranimal feed and fraud repression..............................................................................75

CHAPTER 7 :ANALYSES AND TREATMENT OF SEWAGE SLUDGE ______________________ 76R-M128: Decrease in the use of sewage sludge in agriculture. Revision of directive86/278/EEC. .............................................................................................................76M129: Stepping up of the terms of the ban on the spreading of sewage sludge........76M130: Sewage sludge and incineration. ...................................................................77R-M131: Treatment of sewage sludge. .....................................................................77

CHAPTER 8:MERCURY POLLUTION___________________________________________ 77M132: Mercury limit values for emissions..................................................................77


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M133: Extension of mercury limit values for emissions (LVEs) to any coal combustionfacility. Revision of directives 96/61/EC and 2001/80/EC..........................................78M134: Extension of limit values for emissions to all sectors of the industry...............78M135: Chlorine and soda industry: gradual dismantling of mercury cell electrolysis..78M136: Ban on the marketing of products containing mercury. Revision of directive76/769/EEC. .............................................................................................................78M137: Ban on mercury imports and exports..............................................................78M138: Tracing of products in trade............................................................................79M139: Ban on the use of mercury in gold washing....................................................79

CHAPTER 9:WASTE MANAGEMENT AND TREATMENT______________________________ 79R-M140: Waste management General strategy. ....................................................80R-M141: Cutting back on waste production at source. Lifecycle of products on themarket. .....................................................................................................................80M142: Waste management and treatment cost.........................................................81R-M143: Waste sorting with a view to recovery through selective sorting andrecycling. ..................................................................................................................81R-M144: Waste recovery through selective sorting and recycling. Revision of directive

2000/76/EC...............................................................................................................82M145: Ban on the building of any new incinerator and on any new authorization of co-incineration. ..............................................................................................................83M146: Ban on the incineration or co-incineration of hazardous wastes. ....................84R-M147: Specific treatments and recovery of hazardous wastes. .............................84R-M148: Dumping of waste and protected storage. ..................................................84R-M149: Location of the management and treatment of urban and industrial waste. 84R-M150: Creation of a European Agency for waste management and treatment. .....85R-M151: Creation of a European Research Institute on waste management andtreatment. .................................................................................................................85

Title VI- Information, education, training, social equality ___________________________ 86

R-M152: Information. Stepping up participative democracy. .....................................86R-M156: Social equality Righting wrongs...............................................................87

Appendix 1 : Paris Appeal, an international declaration on disease due to chemical pollution_______________________________________________________________________ 92

Appendix 2 : Signatories of the Paris Appeal____________________________________ 96

Appendix 3 : Drafting the Memorandum________________________________________ 97

Appendix 4 : Mortality rate per 100.000 individuals (U.S.A.) - Source : Center for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC) _______________________________________________ 98


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INTRODUCTIONThe Paris Appeal was proclaimed on May 7, 2004, during the Colloquium on Cancer,Health, Environment at UNESCO, in Paris (Appendix 1). This Appeal is an internationalscientific declaration regarding the sanitary dangers of chemical pollution.

Up to 9 November 2006, the Paris Appeal has now been signed by over a thousandscientists worldwide, including several Nobel Prize winners, by 1,500 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and by about 250,000 European citizens. The StandingCommittee of European Doctors, which represents all medical governing bodies andmedical doctors organizations in the 25 Member States and two million doctors (AppendixII), has also signed it. The target is to collect, in Europe, one million signatures as quickly aspossible.

The Paris Appeal states in its three articles that:

Article 1:The development of numerous current diseases is a result of the deterioration ofthe environment.

Article 2:Chemical pollution represents a serious threat to children and to Man's survival.

Article 3:As our own health, that of our children and future generations, is under threat,the Human race itself is in serious danger.

Considering the threats that hang over mankind, the Appeal underlines the states liability inthe development of these threats and suggests 7 categories of measures based onimplementing the (1) principles of prevention, (2) precaution, (3) correction at source ofenvironmental damage, as a priority, and (4) substitution, regarding marketing of toxicproducts.

To the four principles on which the Appeal is based, we need to add the (5) polluter paysprinciple, at the legal level.

The present document aims at formalizing precisely Recommendations (R) and technicalMeasures (M) that fall within the 7 categories of Measures proposed by the Paris Appeal andat devising ways to implement them.

Recommendations and measures were elaborated from scientific considerations establishedand/or reviewed by a panel of international experts (Appendix III) who worked in closecollaboration with many NGOs.

The field of environmental health is analyzed considering the current effects of chemicalpollution. Sanitary effects related to the loss of biodiversity, energetic issues and climaticchange due to the growing greenhouse effect will not be discussed. However, severalmeasures concern more specifically radiation pollution, due to it links with chemical pollutionand its harmful effects on health.

This memorandum is intended for the 192 states on this planet, and more particularly, the 25Member States of the European Union.

In this field, Europe should set an example of scientific rigor, of political determination and,owing to its cultural past, should be one of the essential ferments in a new awareness.

The memorandum takes into account the major guidelines stated in the Sixth EnvironmentAction Program, stemming from Decision 1600/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of


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the Council. This scheme aims at dissociating environmental pressure from economicgrowth, while meeting the principle of subsidiarity, as well as the diversity of situations, in thedifferent regions of the European Union.

To achieve this target, the sixth environment action program is based, as stated in its article2, on the polluter pays principle, the precautionary and preventive action principles, and theprinciple of correction of pollution as a priority at source. Moreover, the necessity for anintegrated strategic approach is emphasized, bringing about changes in the production andconsumption modes in the private and public sectors that have a negative impact on thestate of the environment and its evolution.

UNFORTUNATELY, AT MID-TERM OF THE SIXTH ENVIRONMENT ACTION PROGRAM11LAUNCHED ON 22 JULY 2002, WE HAVE TO SAY ITS IMPLEMENTATION HASENTIRELY OR PARTIALLY FAILED.

Because it offers practical solutions in the field of environmental health and solutions totechnical problems, the present memorandum addresses more specifically European

authorities (Commission, Council and Parliament) and political and administrative key figuresin each of the 25 Member States in the Union.

We, scientists, doctors, jurists, humanists, citizens, signatories of the Paris Appeal,convinced of the urgency and seriousness of the situation at hand, call uponEuropean authorities, and more particularly the Commission, Council and Parliament,to comply with the Recommendations of this memorandum and to take the Measuresmentioned herein, which were freely and independently drawn up by a panel ofscientific experts.

1The Sixth Community Action Program for the Environment was implemented from 22 July 2002.


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Title I- The concept of sustainable health

Chapter 1: Cross-compliance of health to a healthy environment

According to the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) of April 7 1948:Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely theabsence of disease or infirmity.

According to article 25 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsof December 101948:Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being ofhimself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessarysocial services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability,

widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

According to Principle 1 of the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on theHuman Environment, also known as the Stockholm Declarationof June 16 1972:Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in anenvironment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemnresponsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations.

Cross-compliance of health to a healthy environment is taken up by the Rio Declaration onEnvironment and Development Principle 1:Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitledto a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.

This need for living in a healthy environment is also registered by the Convention of theUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe of June 25 1998 on access to information,public participation on decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters alsoknown as the Aarhus Convention of 25 June 1998 - article 1 : In order to contribute to theprotection of the right of every person of present and future generations to live in anenvironment adequate to his or her health and well-being, each Party shall guarantee therights of access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justicein environmental matters in accordance with the provisions of thisConvention.

Consequently, any state of well-being does not only rely on actual sanitary measures, butalso on more general, in particular legal, measures involving the whole community that

include the preservation of a healthy environment which is seen more and more as globalpublic good -, the preservation of biodiversity, climate stability, water and energy supplies,fair distribution of resources and social assistance.

Chapter 2: Cross-compliance of health to sustainable development

To this, we must add cross-compliance of health to sustainable development.

The Brundtland Report, August 4 1987, of the World Commission on Environment and

Development Our Common Future provides us with the following definition:


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Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present withoutcompromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within ittwo key concepts: the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the worldspoor, to which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by thestate of technology and social organization on the environments ability to meet present andfuture needs.

This notion is taken up by the United Nations Conference on the Environment andDevelopment, in principle 4 of the Rio Declaration of June 13 1992, which integratesprotection of the environment in the development process.In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute andintegral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it.

Furthermore, article 1, chapter 6 Protecting and promoting human health, Agenda 21ofthis Conference, highlights the tight bond between health and development. Health isdiscussed from the viewpoint of poverty, basic sanitary needs and hygiene for developingcountries, of excessive consumption in rich countries and globally, of demographic growth in

the world, but not from the specific viewpoint of sanitary consequences of environmentalpollution : Both insufficient development leading to poverty and inappropriate developmentresulting in over-consumption, coupled with an expanding world population, can result insevere environmental health problems in both developing and developed nations. Actionitems under Agenda 21 must address the primary health needs of the world's population,since they are integral to the achievement of the goals of sustainable development andprimary environmental care.

Article 53, Chapter VI: Health and sustainable Development in the United Nations Reporton the World Summit in Johannesburg (August 26 September 4 2002) goes evenfurther and focuses its resolution on sanitary issues, but always within the perspective ofcontributing to sustainable development.

The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development states that human beings are at thecentre of concerns for sustainable development, and that they are entitled to a healthy andproductive life, in harmony with nature. The goals of sustainable development can only beachieved in the absence of a high prevalence of debilitating diseases, while obtaining healthgains for the whole population requires poverty eradication. There is an urgent need toaddress the causes of ill health, including environmental causes, and their impact ondevelopment, with particular emphasis on women and children, as well as vulnerable groupsof society, such as people with disabilities, elderly persons and indigenous people.

Chapter 3: Reconciling sustainable development and health

The main issue facing mankind today is to reconcile sustainable development and health.None of the previously mentioned declarations contemplates the possibility of the adverseconsequences on health of excessive economic development, and more particularly, doesnot contemplate, as specified in the Paris Appeal, the existence of diseases induced byenvironmental chemical pollution.Thus, on no account, does sustainable development consider explicitly the consequences ofenvironmental pollution on health, in particular the risks of diseases induced by chemicalpollution.Likewise, on no account, does sustainable development consider, as specified in the ParisAppeal, the threat to populations survival in case of irreversible damages to theenvironment.

In international official documents, indeed, it clearly appears that populations health isabsolutely essential to economic development and not the opposite, i.e. that economic


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development should serve populations well-being. Yet, the consequences of chemicalpollution, whatever its forms, and provided one includes, as underlined in the Paris Appeal,biodiversity loss and climatic changes due to the greenhouse effect, constitute the mostserious dangers threatening mankind.

In accordance with WHOs definition of health and considering the three articles of theParis Appeal, the Memorandum extends the concept of sustainable development tothat of sustainable Health, which is defined as the perpetuation of future generationshealth in a state comparable, at least, to todays health, and the future survival of allthe peoples on this planet.

THE CONCEPT OF HEALTH OVER THAT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ORDERTO ACHIEVE THE TARGET OF DURABILITY.

Chapter 4: Scientific foundations of sustainable health

The present document concerns damage to health directly caused by current chemicalpollution, without any reference to damage related to biodiversity loss or to loss caused byclimatic changes.Under these conditions, the concept of sustainable health uses three primordial scientificconsiderations, set forth in the Paris Appeal.

CS1. Susceptibility of the embryo and fetus. The extreme susceptibility to chemicalproducts of the embryo and fetus during pregnancy and after birth, that of the child up to 8years old at least, and consequently, their acute sanitary vulnerability.

CS2. Absence of threshold dose. The absence of threshold dose for any chemicalsubstance involved in the onset of diseases related to chronic toxicity. In case of chronictoxicity, it is not the intensity of the dose that is poisonous, but its repetition, and thus theexposure time of the body to the chemical substance. Therefore, low, and eveninfinitesimal, doses of toxic substances, provided they are repeated over a long enoughperiod of time, may induce diseases by chronic toxicity. This implies that currentregulations, though they protect the body against the onset of acute toxicity, do not protectit against the onset of chronic toxicity-related diseases, in case of repeated doses over aprolonged exposure time.

CS3. Cocktail effects and negativity of epidemiological studies. Considering thediffuse, multiform and persistent nature of environmental chemical pollution and thepossibility of cocktail effects related to interaction of different chemical substances insideor outside the body, and consequently, the possibility of synergic pathological effects, theexistence of negative epidemiological studies (i.e. that have not shown a statisticallysignificant discrepancy between tests subjects and control subjects) does not mean theabsence of risk.

THE FACT THAT THERE ARE NEGATIVE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES DOES NOTTHEREFORE CONSTITUTE A PROOF THAT THERE ARE NO RISKS.

And this all the more when experimental toxicological arguments exist that causally link asubstance at issue in the onset of biological and/or pathological side effects.

The present document is based on these three primordial scientific considerations and,consequently, on implementing the precautionary principle.


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Title II- General recommendations and measures

Chapter 1: Environmental and sanitary policy in Europe.

R1: Integrating health protection in public policies.In accordance with articles 6 and 152 of the Treaty instituting the European Community, alsoknown as the Rome Treaty, of 25 March 1957, both health and the environment are part ofthe definition and implementation of the Communitys policies and actions, within theframework of a global awareness process regarding worldwide ecology and populationshealth. Integrating the environment in public policies, as a principle, and as it was formulatedduring the Rio Conference and reasserted in the final declaration of the summit onsustainable development in Johannesburg, must be a keystone to implement any policy.

Integrating health protection in public policies must be established as a principle.Preserving the environment and health must be a central issue in all EU policies, andbeyond that, in all countries on this planet.

R2: Extending the concept of sustainable development to health.The concept of sustainable development, as considered in the Brundtland Report (4 August1987) of the World Commission on Environment and Development, as designed in the RioDeclaration of 13 June 1992, and in the United Nations report on the Johannesburg Summit(26 August 4 September 2002), is insufficient, as it does not explicitly refer to the need topreserve health, as a priority and in a sustainable way, by fighting against environmentalpollution to preserve sustainable development.

It is imperative that the concept of sustainable development be associated with that ofsustainable health.

R3: Principles governing the concept of sustainable health.In accordance with article 174, paragraph 2, of the Rome Treaty, instituting the EuropeanCommunity, with the recommendation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment (OECD) [C(72)128] of 26 May 1972, with principle 15 of the Rio Declaration of13 June 1992, and with article 1 of the Carthage Protocol of 29 January 2000,

the four principles on which the concept of sustainable health is based are as follows:the prevention principle, when the risk factor inducing the disease is known ; theprecautionary principle, when it is unknown, but assessed as serious and irreversible;the correction principle as a priority at the source of environmental damage ; and thepolluter pays principle.

R4: Revision of the European Constitutional Treaty. Priority given to environmentalprotection and sustainable health.In its form non ratified by France and the Netherlands, the European Constitutional Treaty of16 December 2004, included precise provisions relating to health only in article III-278 andrelating to the environment only in articles III-233 and III-234, which is highly inadequate,considering the stakes of sustainable health and their integrated links with the environment.Therefore, effective implementation of the four principles mentioned above must bereinforced when considering the market, competition and requirements stemming from thedevelopment of a common market.

PRESERVATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE HEALTH ARE THE

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS BASED ON WHICH ANY ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL


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POLICY MUST DEFINE AND BUILD ITSELF, REFERRING TO SUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENT.

Consequently, any provision regarding the European social and economic development mustbe subject to the preservation of the environment and health.

Environmental and sanitary considerations will need to be included, as a priority andin an effective way, in the future European Constitutional Treaty. They should not relyon economic and financial necessities, as recommended in the non ratified version ofthe Constitutional Treaty, but must establish the terms on which any social andeconomic policy may be implemented. Man lives on Natures terms : mans actions donot determine the laws of Nature.

Chapter 2: European legislation.

R5: Simplifying legislation and clarifying community law. The need for a genuineenvironmental health policy.In accordance with the institutional provisions of the treaty instituting the EuropeanCommunity, the European Commission and the Council draw up laws, called directives,which are submitted to parliamentary vote, or else regulations, decisions, recommendationsor opinions. Indeed, as things stand at present, the European Commission, the Council orthe European Parliament have drawn up, since the creation of the European Union, so manylaws relating to health and the environment in particular that it has become practicallyimpossible to know them all and, more importantly, to implement them. To illustrate this, letus consider the five following fields, as an example :

- Dangerous substances: Council directive 67/548/CEE, of 27 June 1967, on theapproximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification,

packaging and labeling of dangerous substances, was modified 42 times. Council directive76/769/CEE of 27 July 1976, on the approximation of the laws, regulations andadministrative provisions of the Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing anduse of certain dangerous substances and preparations,was modified 50 times. To these twodirectives, 14 laws of the Commission were added, modifying one or the other, or modifyingother directives, often to open the way to dispensations ; 12 other specific Commission orCouncil directives, some of them having been themselves modified several times, and aresolution and a regulation of the Council.

- Common Agricultural Policy: the Common Agricultural Policy laid down by article 32 ofthe Rome Treaty instituting the European Community is governed by 46 regulations ordecisions, which has rightly brought the Commission to harmonize all laws and to simplify

procedures.

- Plant-protection products: Up to 9 November 2006, there have been 26 directives onpesticides. They have been modified several times since their adoption. For example,Council directive 91/414/CE of 15 July 1991, on the placing of plant protection products onthe market, has been corrected, since its passing, by 43 other directives, and this, not tomention the dispensations granted to certain Member States.

- Cosmetic products:Council directive 76/768/CEE of 27 July 1976, on the approximationof the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic products, was modified andsupplemented by 7 directives that modify the law and 36 directives that modify theappendixes.


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- Food additives: Since the first Commission directive 81/712/EEC, dated 28 July 1981,laying down community methods of analysis for verifying that certain additives used infoodstuffs satisfy purity criteria, 35 other laws have been drawn up by the Commission andthe Council, (13 directives have been drawn up, which in turn have been modified by 12other directives, whereas 10 implementing directives have been added to Council directive89/107/CEE of 21 December 1988) as well as a Council regulation.

To this, we need to add the fact that certain directives, such as Directive 2000/60/EC of theEuropean Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000, establishing a framework forCommunity action in the field of water policy, are extremely complex in their wording, oftenincomplete and even inaccurate at times, from a scientific viewpoint. These directives areconsequently not only difficult to transfer to national laws, and thus difficult to applypractically, but also very difficult to interpret, from a legal viewpoint.

It is clear that the vast number and the complexity of directives, regulations or decisions,coming from European institutions, only serves to prove the continuous need to adaptCommunity legislation to new scientific knowledge. The very high number of laws actually

shows how the Member States, as well as industrial and economic sectors within the Union,influence and put pressure on Europe and in the end, how badly a genuine European policyin the fields of health and environment is required.

IN FACT, THE VAST NUMBER AND COMPLEXITY OF LAWS PROMULGATED BY THEEUROPEAN UNION HIGHLIGHT THE LACK OF A GENUINE EUROPEAN POLICY INTHE FIELDS OF HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT.

In order for European citizens to have a better understanding of EU laws and for EUMember States to implement them properly, the Commission, the Council and theEuropean Parliament must reduce the number of laws they draw up, simplify theirwording, adapt them to current scientific knowledge based on strictly independentexperts and limit the number of dispensations and exemptions that are likely to begranted under the influence of a person or organization.

R6: Marketing Authorizations. The need for an independent scientific assessment.As underlined by the Ecological council 2, European law relating to human health and theenvironment on the marketing of toxic chemical substances is inadequate. Commissiondirective 93/67/EEC of 20 July 1993, laying down the principles of assessment of risks toman and the environment of chemical substances, in accordance with Council directive67/548/EEC, planned in 1993 to assess the noxiousness of 141 substances out of thethousands of molecules on the market. Yet, only 70 have been assessed. Among those, 57need to be submitted to a more stringent regulation. Yet, only 11 of them have been so far.

The European Union must apply stricter rules in granting product licenses and must

issue them only after an accurate and independent scientific assessment of thechemical substances they contain. It must find ways to assess scientifically productsthat are already on the market, as quickly as possible. It must set up a completelyindependent assessment organization (refer to Title IV).

R7: Spheres of activities not covered by the European law.Many spheres of activity, such as paints, toxic permeation of public or private buildings bypollutants, magnetic waves, artificial ultraviolet rays, radioactivity, etc, which are potentiallythe cause of many diseases, have not been included in any European directive, orregulation, or have not been updated.

2The ecological council, Hazardous Chemicals can be substituted: www.ecocouncil.dk/download/subst_uk.pdf


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The Commission, the Parliament and the Council must propose measures regardingspheres of activity that are currently partially covered or not covered at all and, incompliance with the precautionary principle, take more stringent measures in theenvironmental fields that are considered as essential to health.

Chapter 3: Adaptation of directives to national law, controls andinspections.

R8: Adaptation of directives. The need for reinforced sanctions.Several experts who signed the Paris Appeal have pointed out that there has been noadaptation of several Member States national law to many European directives or thatadaptation was vague and unclear and that, consequently, even with adaptation, Europeandirectives were not implemented or could even be circumvented. This is notably the case ofcertain plant-protection products banned in Europe, due to their toxicity, that arenevertheless still used in certain EU countries.

The Member States must translate European directives into understandable laws,conveying clearly their content in order to be applicable and implemented in apractical way, as quickly as possible. They must clearly inform the concernedorganizations and individuals and enforce these laws through inspections andchecks. Member States must enforce all the laws of the Union within the allotted time.

R9: Application of regulations, directives and decisions. The need for reinforcedcontrol means.Several experts who have signed the Paris Appeal show that organizations, companies orprivate individuals repeatedly breach regulations in several EU Member States, due to the

absence of controls and inspections aimed at checking on site whether the practices of theseorganizations, companies or private individuals were in compliance with the Europeanlegislation.

The Member States must make sure that the European legislation is strictly enforcedwithin their countries, and European authorities must make sure that the MemberStates enforce it. The Commission must control the Member States more stringentlyand frequently and must also carry out regular on-site inspections to check thatorganizations, companies and private individuals comply with the law. WITHOUT ANYSTRICT COMPLIANCE TO THE EUROPEAN LEGISLATION AND LAWS, THERE CAN BENO EUROPEAN CONSTRUCTION. The Commission must obtain suitable and efficientcontrol and inspection means.

Chapter 4: Access to information and public participation to thedecision-making process.

R10: Stepping up transparency and information when drawing up measures andduring the decision making process by European authorities.The application of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention of 25 June 1980, on access toinformation, public participation in Decision-making and access to Justice in environmentalmatters to Community institutions and bodies, is stated in Regulation (EC) 1367/2006 of theEuropean Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006. This regulation intended for

EU institutions and bodies should be applied from 28 June 2007. And yet, this regulation is,as it stands, insufficient. It will not solve the consultation issues in elaborating measures and


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decision-making by EU institutions and bodies, nor will it solve the issue of the nature of thecontents of these measures and decision-making. Moreover, it will not solve the lack ofcommunication and circulation of information between these institutions and bodies and thepeoples of the different EU Member States. Indeed, the measures taken by the EuropeanUnion are proposed by the Commission or by the Parliament and the Council, and aresubmitted to the vote of the Parliament. Yet, these measures are often decided in the contextof contradictory influences between representatives of the industry or agriculture, on onehand, and representatives of associations or NGOs acting as representatives of the civilsociety, without any other status than that of non-profit organizations. This results indecisions not always being made in favor of public sanitary and environmental safety in theUnion and in decisions often made without consulting the public or informing it regularly.

EUROPE SUFFERS TODAY FROM A LACK OF TRANSPARENCY.

The European Union must reinforce transparency in elaborating measures and indecision-making and must reinforce, prior to its decision-making system, thedemocratic processes, in order for a suitably representative civil society to take parteffectively in the decision-making process, and following the decision-making, inorder for the peoples in the Union, not only to be regularly informed, but also to be

officially consulted more frequently on main issues regarding specificallypreservation of environment and health.

R-M11: Joint discussions between industry representatives and NGOs.Elaborating measures and making decisions often mean challenging contradictory interestsbetween, on one hand, companies and, on the other hand, socially-aware organizations thatrepresent the different peoples.

The European Union must institutionalize joint discussions, not only between industryrepresentatives and unions, but also between industry representatives and NGOs,who very often represent, in the fields of environment and health, the true desires of

civil society and the different peoples in the Union.

M12:Official recognition for NGOs.Recognizing NGOs as a party to discussions needs to be based on strict criteria, involvingtheir nondenominational and non political nature, as well as their complete independence,including in terms of f inance, towards the industry.

The European Union must recognize NGOs as official partners in joint discussions,accept their recommendations, in the same way as recommendations coming fromcompanies, and therefore subsidize them as unions are subsidized by companies.

M13: Subsidies granted to NGOs.

In return for actions and service rendered by NGOs, the European Union mustsubsidize them without these hindering their independence. European Unionsubsidies must be granted, first and foremost, to NGOs that act in favor ofenvironment preservation and sustainable health, be financially adequate andconcern, as a priority, jobs within these structures.

Chapter 5: Participation of European cities and towns in the

implementation of sustainable health policies within the Member


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States and in the application of Community law in the fields ofhealth and environment.

R-M14: European Charter of town councils for the protection of the environment andhealth.

European towns and cities already play a major role in the field of environmental and healthinitiatives, and will play a more and more significant role in the implementation of policies inboth fields and in the application of Community law. Town and city mayors in differentMember States of the Union have already taken a stand, through the Athens Declarationfor Healthy Cities3, 1998 WHO, on the fundamental principles on which health and viabledevelopment in cities and urban areas are based, and have adhered to the Charter ofEuropean towns and cities towards sustainability, called the Aalborg Charter.However, there is no doubt that we need to go further on in the harmonization of measuresand their practical application, and that we need to link health to environment in theframework of the concept of sustainable health.Thus, town and city mayors of the EU Member States and beyond, all European towns, mustjoin forces and unite to issue a new joint charter, comprising practical measures to fight moreeffectively different types of pollution and protect citizens health, within the framework of theconcept of sustainable health. Therefore, practical measures, such protecting water supplies,reducing motorized urban traffic, electrifying public transport, energy savings, laying outgreen areas and pedestrian streets, constructing residential buildings based on a new urbanarchitecture which takes into account ecological and energetic requirements, buildingschools in secured areas, fighting indoor and outdoor pollution, as well as noise, banning theuse of pesticides fir weeding, introducing organic foods in school catering, managing andtreating rationally urban wastes, should be proposed jointly.

Town and city mayors of the different Member States in Europe must join forces andunite to issue a joint charter in order to fight, more effectively and in a standardizedway, environmental pollution and to preserve, in a sustainable way, their citizens

health, within the framework of the European law in force.

R15: Reinforcing penalties. Introducing penalty measures in community law.Although, according to the 22nd annual Report from the Commission on monitoring theapplication of Community law [Com(2005) 570], the number of complaints relating tobreaches of the law admitted by the European Commission seems to have decreased overthe last years, it remains relatively high in some sectors, such as water pollution, emptying offuel tanks at sea, waste management and, consequently, sustainable health.The order of 13 September 2005 (C-176/03 Commission versus Council) reasserts thecompetence of the European Community in adopting criminal measures to guarantee theeffectiveness of community law. It is therefore within the competence of the EuropeanCommunity to make it compulsory for Member States to make provision for criminal chargesin order to protect the environment.

When regulations, decisions or directives are not applied or are delayed in theirimplementation, the European Union must enforce stringent coercive measures byway of reinforced sanctions and fines for Member States or private individuals that donot comply. It must reinforce EU laws on the environment and health, and be equippedwith the required tools to enforce them practically, in real time. It must introducecriminal measures in Community law, increase the prerogatives of the European

3Athens Declaration for Healthy Cities, 23 June 1998, within the framework of the Healthy city Program launched

by WHO.


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Communities Court of Justice and, as suggested by some EU countries, strengthenjudicial and police cooperation, in order to fight serious and potentially irreversiblebreaches to the environment and health.

R-M16: Extending the polluter pays principle to health in order to guarantee theremedying of the sanitary damage caused. Penalties in case of severe and irreversiblephysical injuries.As underlined in the Paris Appeal, environment and health are causally linked: anymodification of the environment, in particular any pollution, may be the cause of diseases.The polluter pays principle is part of several international documents, including the treatyinstituting the European Community (article 174 2), and stated in several directives.Directive 2004/35/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on theenvironmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmentaldamage, deals with environmental damage itself, without contemplating sanitary damagecaused by pollution or by environmental damage itself. This is an important loophole in theEuropean law regarding the enforcement of the polluter pays principle. This loophole is

detrimental to the citizens of the different Member States in the Union who, when they arethe victims of these pollutions, have no other course of action left to them but to associate ina court action with the public prosecutor in their country, after having formed an associationof victims, and in case of non-remedying, to appeal to the European Communities Court ofJustice.

The polluter pays principle must be applied to environmental sanitary breaches, asit applies to environmental damage or breaches themselves. The European Unionmust legislate on the sanitary breaches caused by pollution or by environmentaldamage that derives from them, with a specific law. When severe and irreversiblephysical injuries are involved, penalties must fall within the province of criminal law.

R-M17: Applying the law uniformly in all the territories coming under the authority ofthe Member States.In some French overseas territories, the use of plant-protection products, though banned inthe European Union, was still tolerated.

For reasons of equity, EU Member States must make sure that European directives arefully applied in their territories located outside Europe. Moreover, it would bepreferable that these territories, when they are an integral part of a Member State,really benefit from the same advantages and obligations as each of the Member Statesin the Union.

R18: Sanctions for companies that do not comply with the bans on the marketing ofproducts.Any company having its headquarters within the European Union that imports or exportsproducts banned from the EU market must be very severely sanctioned.

The European Union must take great care in making sure that Community law isenforced and in making sure the Member States sanction very severely any infractionregarding the import or export of products banned from the market. Should theMember States fail to meet this obligation, the European Union must see to it andintroduce financial and/or penal measures in Community law.


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R-M19: Reinforcing the competence of international jurisdictions and penaltiesregarding health and environment, in case of trans-boundary pollutions.

A. Internalization of pollution

(1) Given that pollutants do not remain in one country, region or continent, but that, asregards water (as underlined in the 1992 Convention on the protection and use of trans-boundary watercourses and international lakes), these pollutants may contaminate aneighboring country or even many countries located downstream, and as regards air, (asunderlined in the 1979 Convention in Geneva on trans-boundary atmospheric pollution), thispollution may travel a great distance, and consequently, contaminate countries very far awayfrom the polluting area.(2) According the fundamental principle of the international law on Environment, stated inprinciple 2 of the Rio Declaration in 1992 as follows : States have, in accordance with theCharter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right toexploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies,

and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not causedamage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of nationaljurisdiction.,

ANY SIZEABLE POLLUTION MUST COME WITHIN THE AUTHORITY OF ANINTERNATIONAL JURISDICTION.

B. Legal inadequacy of the polluter pays principle.

Given the seriousness and irreversibility of some environmental damage, given the possibilityof permanent disabilities or premature deaths caused by pollution, given that any pollutionsimply amounts to the poisoning of living organisms and the environment, the application ofthe polluter pays principle is insufficient and could even be regarded as the right to pollutefor those who have the financial means.Moreover, owing to the seriousness and irreversibility of some damage regardingenvironment and people, owing to the fact that this damage is caused by polluters, andconsequently, that the strict application of the polluter pays principle does not allow foradequate remedying, owing to the possibility of trans-boundary pollution and to thefundamental principle of the international law on preserving the environment outside thelimits of national jurisdictions,

THE EUROPEAN UNION MUST MAKE SURE THAT COMMUNITY LAW IS REINFORCEDAND THAT IT CORRESPONDS TO THE SERIOUSNESS OF POLLUTION, TO ITSTRANS-BOUNDARY CHARACTER AND MOSTLY TO ITS SANITARY CONSEQUENCES,

WHICH CAN ONLY COME UNDER AN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JURISDICTION.When the intentional or out-of-carelessness failure to meet the European legislationleads to severe and irreversible environmental damage or environmental sanitarydamage, such as death or the onset of diseases, such as cancers, congenitalmalformations, sterility, diseases of the nervous system, the European Union mustmake sure the sentence falls within not only the polluter pays principle, but alsowithin a criminal court of justice considering the offence caused. It is thereforeessential that the prerogatives of the European Communities Court of Justice beextended to environmental criminal law and that those of the International CriminalCourt be extended to the environment, in order for environmental sanitary damage, ifsevere and irreversible, to be prosecuted by a supranational jurisdiction and facecriminal charges.


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Title III- Protecting children

Chapter 1 : Protecting pregnant women and children

R20: Vulnerability of children.As stipulated in the Paris Appeal, Article 2, children are now in danger.

A. Scientific arguments.

This consideration relies on three scientific observations: (1) the drop in fertility in mostcountries, (2) the vulnerability of the fetus during pregnancy and of the child after birth tochemical pollutants and (3) the contamination of most current newborns by dozens orhundreds of chemical pollutants in the environment.

1:The drop in fertility is growing in allindustrialized4countries, so that voluntary birth control

through contraception can no longer be considered as the only cause of the current declinein births, as observed in most EU Member States. Fertility decrease also appears to be oneof the causes of birth decline. Sterility concerns both men and women alike, and severalscientific studies clearly show that it is largely induced by chemical pollution5,6,7.

2: The developing fetus and the child are very vulnerable to chemical pollutants. Duringpregnancy, the fetus is very vulnerable to any outside, physical, chemical or biological attack,on the one hand, due to the critical periods allowing cell multiplication and differentiation, andtissue organization and growth, and, on the other hand, due to the immaturity of biologicalsystems of chemical detoxication. The consequence of this is the possible onset ofcongenital malformations8(which are often the visible effect generated by molecules, whilethere are often other more important problems that cannot be seen) and subsequently, after

birth, the onset of other diseases.After birth, the child is also vulnerable (1) owing to the amounts of air inhaled and wateringested that are much greater than for an adult, when related to body weight, (2) owing to itsproximity to the ground, where most chemical pollutants accumulate and (3) owing to thepersistent immaturity, until at least 8-10 years of age, of its neurological, endocrine andimmune9systems.

3: From birth, most newborns are now contaminated by many CMR10-type (Carcinogenic,Mutagenic, Reprotoxic) chemical pollutants. Analyses carried out on the blood fromnewborns umbilical cord show that most of them are contaminated by pollutants to which themother was exposed prior to or during pregnancy. Thus, in the study of the Environmental

4World Fertility Report : 2003, ESA/P/WP.189, 12 March 2004, United Nations

5Skakkebaek NE, Jorgensen N, Main KM, Rajpert-De Meyts E, Leffers H, Andersson AM, Juul A, Carlsen E,

Mortensen GK, Jensen TK, Toppari J. Is human fecundity declining? Int J Androl. 2006 Feb;29(1):2-11.6Buck Louis GM, Lynch CD, Cooney MA. Environmental influences on female fecundity and fertility. Semin

Reprod Med. 2006 Jul;24(3):147-155.7Amaral Mendes JJ. The endocrine disrupters: a major medical challenge. Food Chem Toxicol. 2002

Jun;40(6):781-8.8Sultan C, Paris F, Terouanne B, Balaguer P, Georget V, Poujol N, Jeandel C, Lumbroso S, Nicolas JC.

Disorders linked to insufficient androgen action in male children. Hum Reprod Update. 2001 May-Jun;7(3):314-322.9Childrens health and environment:. A review of evidence. A joint report from the European Environment Agency.

and the WHO Regional Office for Europe. 2002. Available at: www.euro.who.int/document/e75518.pdf10

Sharpe RM and Irvine DS. How strong is the evidence of a link between environmental chemicals and adverseeffects on human reproductive health? BMJ. 2004 Feb 21;328(7437):447-451.


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Working Group 11, out of the 413 chemical pollutants sought, 287 were detected onaverage, 200 per newborn even though 180 of them are carcinogenic, 217, neurotoxic, and208 induce congenital malformations or abortions in laboratory animals. The dangers of pre-or post-natal exposure to compounds of carcinogenic substances or substances that aretoxic for development and the nervous system have not yet been studied. These substancesinclude heavy metals, such as mercury, cadmium and lead, or Persistent Organic Pollutants(POPs) of CMR type, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinatedbiphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), used as brominated flame-retardants, or else organochlorinated or organophosphorous pesticides It was clearlydemonstrated that these molecules transfer to the placenta12 and thus contaminated thefetus, and consequently, that they may disrupt growth and development, cause congenitalmalformations and, subsequently, be the cause of sterility, cancers, diseases of the nervoussystem or immune deficiencies. Therefore, today, newborns are potentially likely to developthese different pathologies during their lifecycle. And among long-term effects, we shouldmention malformations affecting outer male genitals, as well as functional alterations of thereproductive system occurring at adult age that may be induced by disruptions in theprogramming of gonad development during embryonal life13,14. Thus, molecules acting as

endocrine disruptors may have an impact on the sexual identity process

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.

B. Sanitary and socioeconomic arguments.

To the three previous considerations regarding chemical pollution, we need to add, asunderlined by the WHO, other risk factors regarding the sanitary and socioeconomicconditions in which children live around the world.As shown in WHOs European Health Report 200516, social inequalities increase amongcountries, and more particularly among Western European countries and Eastern Europeancountries, and within each of these countries, among the different socioeconomic groups.

Consequently, health disparities between poor and rich countries increase, and in richcountries, among the different socioeconomic groups.This report rightly grants a distinguished place to childrens health, as the latter determineshealth for life and the health of the following generation.And yet, health inequalities in children have now widened unacceptably between poorcountries and wealthy countries, and even in wealthy countries, among the different socialgroups. Poverty and the lack of education are the main threats weighing over childrenshealth, whatever the level of development of the country considered.The causes and mortality and morbidity rates in children thus vary considerably. In Europe,Infectious diseases, traumatisms and intoxications are more frequent in the East, whereasasthma, allergies, diabetes, obesity and neuropsychiatric disorders are more frequent in theWest.

11Body Burden The Pollution in Newborns: A benchmark investigation of industrial chemicals, pollutants and

pesticides in umbilical cord blood. Environmental Working Group, July 14, 2005. Available at:www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/execsumm.php12

Whyatt RM, Barr DB, Camann DE, Kinney PL, Barr JR, Andrews HF, Hoepner LA, Garfinkel R, Hazi Y, ReyesA, Ramirez J, Cosme Y, Perera FP. Contemporary-use pesticides in personal air samples during pregnancy andblood samples at delivery among urban minority mothers and newborns. Environ Health Perspect. 2003May;111(5):749-756.13

Sharpe RM, Mc Kinnell C, Kivlin C, Fisher JS. Proliferation and functional maturation of Sertoli cells, andthe relevance to disorders of testis function in adulthood. Reproduction 2003; 125(6):769-784.14

Skakkebaek NE. Testicular dysgenesis syndrome. Horm Res 2003; 60(3):49.15

Sultan C, Balaguer P, Terouanne B, Georget V, Paris F, Jeandel C, Lumbroso S, Nicolas J. Environmental

xenoestrogens, antiandrogens and disorders of male sexual differentiation. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2001 Jun10;178(1-2):99-105.16

Available at: http://www.euro.who.int/document/e87325.pdf


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So, we need to add societal causes to environmental chemical pollution, as denounced bythe Paris Appeal, to explain diseases, which justifies the implementation of global strategiesto protect and improve childrens health.

The major priority in Europe, in terms of sustainable health, must concern pregnantwomen and children.

Chapter 2: Revision of toxicological standards and generalprinciples to forbid marketing authorization.

R21: Adaptation of toxicological standards to the embryo and children.In compliance with group of measures #3 of the Paris Appeal, one can note that toxicologicalstandards aimed at protecting populations vary from one country to another and areessentially based on threshold doses assessed to be risk-free in adults, without any specificconsideration for pregnant women and children.

Toxicological standards must be the same for all EU Member States and suit the mostvulnerable people in society, i.e. the embryo and children.

R22: Cumulative toxicity and synergetic effects of chemical substances.Considering that chemical pollution is multiform, that different chemical substances caninteract with one another (cocktail effects)17 and thus magnify their effects on health, thatthese substances may have the same biological target in the body or different targets,leading to the same effects, and consequently, that different chemical substances, by actingin a synergistic way, may contribute to magnify the same toxic effect :THE NOTION OF THRESHOLD DOSE FOR EACH TOXIC SUBSTANCE APPEARSINADEQUATE.These considerations, combined with the fact that repeated low doses are likely to inducediseases by chronic toxicity (refer to CS2), show that :REGULATORY STANDARDS IMPLEMENTED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION ARE, ASTHEY STAND TODAY, UNABLE TO PROTECT EUROPEAN CITIZENS AGAINST THEONSET OF SUCH DISEASES.

To establish toxicological standards, it is highly recommended that, in determiningthreshold doses for each chemical substance, the notion of cumulative toxicity betaken into account, not only defined as the accumulation of a chemical substanceseffects in the body according to the period of time, but also as the possibility thatdifferent substances may interact in a synergistic way and have, in the body,cumulative sanitary effects. As a precautionary measure, chemical substances

assessed as sufficiently toxic in themselves or as contributing to magnify the toxiceffects of other chemical substances, which are not necessarily toxic in themselves,must be purely and simply withdrawn from the market.

M23: Withdrawal of CMR substances from the market.In compliance with group of measures #1 of the Paris Appeal, in accordance with the secondconsideration (CS2) stated in title 1 of the Memorandum, considering that it is not only the

17Cancer as an Environmental Disease. Series: Environmental Science and Technology Library , Vol. 20.

Nicolopoulou-Stamati, P.; Hens, L.; Howard, V.C.; Van Larebeke, N. (Eds.). 2004


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intensity of a daily dose of a chemical substance that should be taken into account, but alsothe repetition of doses - thus the exposure time to this chemical substance (and this,whatever the intensity of the daily dose) - and considering the previous Recommendation(R22) :

Any molecule likely to contaminate the water, air, soil or food that has been

scientifically assessed as CMR or probably CMR must be withdrawn from the market.

M24: Withdrawal from the market of chemical substances which transfer to theplacenta.

In the marketing authorization file of any chemical substance, placental transfer ofchemical substances must be systematically and scientifically studied. Any chemicalsubstance that is lipophilic, bioaccumulative and for which there is a proven placentaltransfer, whether it be or not recognized as CMR, must be withdrawn from the market,due to its possible toxicity for the embryo and fetus in pregnant women and,subsequently, children.

M25: Assessment of thresholds for non-CMR chemical substances.

In case of chemical substances that have been clearly identified as not being CMR orprobably CMR (M23), that are not bioaccumulative or likely to present cocktaileffects and that do not transfer to the placenta (M24), as a precautionary measure,threshold doses assessed to be risk-free must be assessed according to scientificdata available regarding their chemical and biological properties.

Chapter 3 : Hazardous chemical substances

M26: Measuring out of mercury in fish and seafood.Many metals, such as lead, arsenic, nickel, chromium, cadmium, aluminum and mercury, aretoxic for health, even at a low daily dose. These metals or their derivatives are ingested inthe form of particles or inhaled in the form of toxic fumes.Mercury and its ethylic or methylic derivatives are the cause of learning difficulties anddiseases of the central nervous system affecting more particularly children. Mercuryaccumulates in the whole food chain, in particular in fish and seafood, and, in pregnantwomen, transfers to the placenta and therefore contaminates the fetus. According to certainstudies, mercury could be one of the major causes of numerous cases of autism 18,19.

The European Union must make it compulsory to measure out mercury in fish andseafood, and to prohibit sale when they are contaminated by mercury.

M27: Ban on medical and cosmetic products containing mercury.Certain medical devices often resort to the bactericide action of mercury. Such is the case ofdental amalgams containing mercury that are used as filling materials for the treatment oftooth decay. Such is also the case for vaccines containing mercury in the form of thimerosal.

18Bernard S, Enayati A, Redwood L, Roger H, Binstock T. Autism: a novel form of mercury poisoning. Med

Hypotheses. 2001 Apr; 56(4):462-471.19

Holmes AS, Blaxill MF, Haley BE. Reduced levels of mercury in first baby haircuts of autistic children. Int JToxicol. 2003 Jul-Aug; 22(4):277-285.


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Thimerosal is a salt complex of ethyl mercury and thiosalicylate used as an additive invaccines and cosmetic products due to its bactericidal or fungal action.

The European Union must ban dental amalgams with mercury and forbid the placingon the market of vaccines, containing mercury in the form of thimerosal and, ingeneral, ban any medical preparation and cosmetic products, containing thimerosal or

any other form of mercury-based substances.

M28: Mercury ban in maternities, crches, hospitals and schools.

The European Union must ban the use of mercury in all its forms, in all public places,and in particular in maternities, crches, hospitals and schools.

M29: Aldehydes and indoor air pollution. Ban on the use of formaldehyde.Aldehydes and more particularly formaldehyde are carcinogenic. Formaldehyde is classifiedby the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a carcinogenic product (group

1)20,21

.Formaldehyde is present in many materials and products used for buildings.At room temperature, it evaporates and spreads in the indoor air of public buildings orhomes.Several surveys, including one carried out in France22, put forward very high rates offormaldehyde in the indoor air of public buildings, and in particular in schools where childrenremain for long periods of time.

The European Union must legislate on indoor air pollution (see Title V, Chapter 4) andban the use of aldehydes recognized as toxic, in particular formaldehyde, in materialsand products used in the building industry and indoor furniture products, inaccordance with Measures 50 and 95.

M30: Ban on the use of aldehydes known to be toxic, in particular formaldehyde inpharmaceutical and cosmetic products.Formaldehyde is classified as carcinogenic by IARC. And yet it is a constituent of manycosmetic products and even of several pharmaceutical products.

The European Union must prohibit the placing on the market of cosmetic orpharmaceutical products containing aldehydes recognized as toxic, and morespecifically formaldehyde.

M31: Phthalates and medical plastics. Ban on the use of DEHP.

Contamination due to certain phthalates is the cause of repeated abortions in rats andmice23,24 and of sterility in man25(Refer to Recommendation R20). Phthalates may also bethe cause of congenital malformations in children.

20IARC monograph Volume 88 (in preparation) Formaldehyde, 2-Butoxyethanol and 1-tert-Butoxy-2-propanol

21Cogliano V, Grosse Y, Baan RA, Straif K, Secretan MB, El Ghissassi F and the Working Group for Volume 88.

Meeting Report: Summary of IARC Monograph on Formaldehyde, 2-Butoxyethanol and 1-tert-Butoxy-2-propanol.Environ Health, 2005, Sep; 113(9): 1205-1208.22

A campaign to measure formaldehyde in the air of 150 schools and crches was conducted in Strasburg,France, by the Association for the monitoring and study of atmospheric pollution in Alsace (ASPA) :http://rsein.ineris.fr/actualite/actu_pdf/13_NLeclerc.pdf#search=%22formald%C3%A9hyde%20aspa%20ecole%2

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Saillenfait AM, Sabate JP, Gallissot F. Developmental toxic effects of diisobutyl phthalate, the methyl-branchedanalogue of di-n-butyl phthalate, administered by gavage to rats. Toxicol Lett. 2006 Aug 1;165(1):39-46.


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Certain phthalates, including Di-2-EthylHexyl-Phthalate (DEHP), are used in combinationwith polyvinyl chloride (PVC) as plasticizers to soften plastics. And yet, the combination ofDEHP and PVC is unstable, which leads DEHP to come off PVC.Soft plastics are

memorandum of the paris appeal -2006

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