European Commission Presents Criteria for Identifying Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Pesticide and Biocide Areas

The European Commission (EC) has recently presented criteria to identify endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the pesticide and biocide fields. The Commission has provided both the European Parliament and European Council with the criteria, to ensure that they both adopt a science-based approach to the identification of EDCs as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) definition; this criterion is to be applied to the Plant Protection Products legislation and the Biocidal Products Regulation.

An endocrine disruptor is defined as “an exogenous substance or mixture that alters function(s) of the endocrine system and consequently causes adverse health effects in an intact organism, or its progeny, or (sub)populations.”¹

The criteria set out by the EC suggest that the identification of an EDC should be carried out using relevant scientific evidence and also through the application of a robust systematic review. Under the Plant Protection Products legislation, the EC has proposed possible derogations so as to take into account the latest scientific data.

With regards to this pesticide regulation, a hazard-based approach will be maintained (as opposed to risk-based), meaning that substances will be banned based on their intrinsic endocrine disrupting properties without an account for environmental exposure. Despite this hazard-based approach, the grounds for possible derogations mean that scientific information (including that relating to exposure and risk) can be taken into account and used in the best possible manner.

Matt Davies, Industrial Issues Executive at the British Plastics Federation, noted that “due to the WHO definition of endocrine disruption, many chemicals that pose no risks to either the environment or human health could now be identified as EDCs. The criteria should have the capacity to identify both those EDCs that pose a risk to health and the environment and those which pose little or no risk; this ensures that products that promote sustainability are not unnecessarily taken away from markets where they do not need to be, and those chemicals causing harm can correctly be identified and substituted to further promote a sustainable society.”

Chris Howick, Chairman of the BPF’s Product Safety Committee and Product Regulation Manager at INOVYN ChlorVinyls, also added that "in most other areas of chemical risk assessment the size of an effect is used in conspiring whether a given situation presents a risk or not. For example, in deciding whether a concentration of petrol will catch fire, the degree of flammability (potency) is used. Without this knowledge real risk assessments become exceedingly difficult or impossible to carry out and there is the possibility that useful substances which do not present a risk will be regulated and therefore removed from the market unnecessarily."

The EC has supplied the criteria to the relevant bodies in the form of two draft legal acts, one under the Plant Protection Products legislation and one under the Biocidal Products Regulation.

For further information on EDCs and general product safety, contact Matt Davies at [email protected] or on +44(0) 207 457 5048.

Ends

1. World Health Organization. (2002). “Global assessment of the state-of-the-science of endocrine disruptors”. Available: http://www.who.int/ipcs/publications/new_issues/endocrine_disruptors/en/. Last accessed 20th June 2016.

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Notes for editors:
The British Plastics federation (BPF) is the UK trade association for the plastics industry – representing the whole supply chain including polymer producers, distributors, additives suppliers, machinery manufacturers, processors and recyclers.