This week, 110 researchers from 12 universities in Sweden sent a letter to Climate and Environment Minister Annika Strandhäll (S) urging that protection against dangerous chemicals must be strengthened globally.
The campaign is part of a petition signed by almost 2,000 researchers in 85 countries.
- We want her to support this appeal to establish an international panel, so that we as researchers can contribute better to decision makers, says Ingrid Ericson Jogsten, docent in analytical/environmental chemistry at Örebro University.
Increased fiftyfold
Knowledge of all the chemicals used is limited and chemical legislation is different in different countries.
From 1950 to 2000, the global production volume of chemicals has increased more than fifty times and every day new ones are registered, according to the European Environmental Agency EEA.
We are exposed to harmful chemicals both indoors and outdoors.
Some negative health effects are known, but generally knowledge is still limited about how they affect people, animals and nature.
- We need to strengthen the link between research and decision-makers, says Ingrid Ericson Jogsten.
Promise to work to establish a panel
After Annika Strandhäll (S), Minister of the Environment and Climate, took note of the researchers' demands, she gave a public answer via social media: "The answer is YES!".
In a written comment to SVT Nyheter Örebro, she elaborates:
- I would like to work for an international panel on environmental toxins.
We social democrats have long worked to protect nature and people from dangerous chemicals and waste, and the establishment of a panel is an important step towards a toxic-free everyday life and a sustainable future, says Annika Strandhäll via her press secretary.