Three quarters of chemicals manufactured in Europe are dangerous to health

• Food They detect harmful substances in fast food packaging in Europe

• Research Spain maintains the use of bisphenol A in packaging and a new study warns of respiratory damage in girls

If we were to take a blood or urine test, virtually everyone would have detectable levels of some potentially harmful chemical.

It is estimated that there are thousands of compounds and chemicals, some known and others yet to be detected, that are associated with health problems or environmental damage, and that are often part of our daily lives.

The European Commission has just published a new list with all these substances, with the aim of adding new ones and inspiring the new regulations that will be implemented in the coming years.

According to the chemical industry, which will be forced to adopt important changes, up to

of consumer or professional products.

"We are exposed to many substances daily -those that are in perfumes, in cosmetics...- to which, logically, alternatives will have to be sought. Or the consumer will have to assume that they will last less than expected, because they are preservatives, antibacterial ... But

, this is the goal," explains Maribel Casas, ISGlobal researcher and author of several studies on these substances.

By volume, and according to data from the European Commission, around three quarters of all chemical substances produced in Europe belong to the dangerous category.

A very high percentage that has been slightly reduced in recent years: "From 78% in 2004, the proportion of all chemical substances dangerous to health

", exposes a Eurostat document .

"The consumption of chemicals hazardous to health in the EU was

," the report continues.

The new list does not talk about any specific product that is harmful in itself.

The problem is that, cumulatively, and in small doses, we are continuously exposed to these substances.

Therefore, getting rid of all of them will entail a major change in manufacturing standards, which would affect a large part of the products that we habitually consume,

.

In other words, the new regulations will revolutionize the production of chemical substances that accompany all kinds of products and with which we cannot avoid coming across.

When it is carried out, it will not be necessary to wait years or decades to be able to withdraw a substance from the market, but rather the industry itself will have to demonstrate that a substance is safe.

The REACH regulation, implemented in 2006 and to be reviewed in 2027, "places the responsibility on industry to manage the risks of chemical substances and provide safety information on them."

The new list of dangerous substances, which is expected to grow continuously, will put this principle into practice, which the EU summarizes as follows: "

".

Among the groups of substances that could be restricted in the coming years are perfluorinated substances, bisphenols, parabens, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons... "We

. Bisphenol A, for example, or phthalates, which are found in plastics, or perfluorinated, are in almost all of us. This is important data: we all have detectable concentrations in blood or urine", explains Casas, who assesses: "It is good legislation. What should have come out years ago? Yes. But hey, the important thing is that it has come out."

He clarifies, however, that it remains to be seen how it will materialize, and recalls that each State must commit.

In any case, one of the elements of the new proposal is that, once a group of substances has been determined to be dangerous, it will not be necessary to dwell on each of the specific compounds in the same group: "The important thing about this regulation is that

, substitutes for bisphenol A such as bisphenol S or F", explains the researcher.

Bisphenol A has been linked to problems such as obesity, effects on respiratory health or neurodevelopment, and various types of hormonal cancer, among others.

It is one of the substances classified as endocrine disruptors, which have

.

Brominated flame retardants, which also appear on the list, have been linked to various types of cancer.

"We claimed it a long time ago"

"If the industry is prohibited from making bisphenol A, it can make a product that looks very similar, that has the same utility, the same properties, and that is not bisphenol A. But, in the end, the molecular structure is the same, the potential toxic effects are the same. Therefore,

, and the good thing about this is that it includes groups of substances, which is what we were claiming a long time ago", celebrates Houses.

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), with a great capacity to remain in the environment, will also be restricted, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), "the least recyclable plastic, with a large number of toxic additives," will be banned, says the European Office for the Environment. Environment (EEB), which brings together 170 civil organizations and has celebrated the new EU listing as "

".

For its part, the Council of the European Chemical Industry (Cefic) considers that the legislation will place the sector at a "crossroads" and "massive investments will be needed to meet the objectives of the Green Deal".

"It's not that I'm going against the industry. The question is:

Even if there's only one small study that says this substance may have some effect on health, it should no longer be removed," concludes Casas.

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