PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkylated substances) in fast food packaging, bisphenols in children’s products, too much nickel (an allergenic metal) or too much lead and cadmium in cheap jewellery sold on online platforms... In a new report published on Tuesday 10 October, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) warns that cocktails of toxic chemicals are everywhere in everyday consumer products.
In BEUC’s view, this underlines the urgent need to translate the EU’s 2020 Sustainable Chemicals Strategy into concrete regulations, and to give priority to tackling PFASs, those eternal pollutants.
BEUC is calling on the EU to update the REACH regulation so that the authorities can take early and preventive action before the use of a potentially dangerous chemical becomes widespread.
BEUC’s report compiles all the tests carried out by its member organisations between 2017 and 2023.
To give just one example, in 2017, BEUC members found high levels of fluorinated compounds in a third of the 65 fast food packages tested. A test carried out in 2018 showed similar results, with fluorinated compounds detected in over 25% of the samples tested.
The European Commission has undertaken to continue work on REACH, but without a timetable.
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/8z1 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)