08/02/2005 Professor Jacqueline
McGlade, EEA’s Director was already a REACH
supporter and her own ‘chemical check-up’
reconfirmed her belief in the importance of
controlling hazardous chemicals.
Professor McGlade was blood tested by WWF
in December 2003 and found the results disturbing
and surprising. Among the 35 chemicals found
in her blood, she had a high number of phthalates
and a relatively high level of perfluorinated
chemicals (PFOS and PFOA) and PCBs.
"I was surprised as I am fairly careful
about what I do", she explained.
"When I ran a biochemistry laboratory
and was searching for particular chemicals,
I didn’t realise the amount of pollution I
was receiving from my daily life". She
attributes the presence of phthalates in her
blood to their use in her children’s toys
and clothes during the 1970s and 80s.
As a scientist, who in the past has studied
hazardous chemicals, she believes that REACH
is absolutely essential.
"We need legislation like this to control
chemicals that are accumulating in the natural
environment, as we don’t know how many are
building up in the soil. REACH could control
them, if the Community institutions follow
the Commission’s original proposal,"
she said.
On a personal level have the results made
any difference?
"With the high level of PCBs they found,
I am looking for foods grown organically",
she explained. "In household chores I
use rose water rather than new products that
use nano chemicals, as these can be absorbed
through the skin".
Professor McGlade is the Director of the
EEA and has used her results to explain to
a wider audience the dangers of long-term
exposures at low dosages.
"This shows that over a lifetime, even
if we try to avoid chemicals, low doses build
up in our bodies".
The most isolated populations can be the
worse effected
The danger of long-term exposures is also
the message of a seminal EEA study: Chemicals
in the European Environment: Low Doses, High
Stakes?
Chemicals in the European Environment describes
research showing how chemicals are carried
through the atmosphere, causing damage to
wildlife and humans thousands of miles from
the source of production or consumption. McGlade
used the example of the Inuit in Greenland
to explain the effect this is having.
"The female Inuit population in Greenland
now has such a high chemical burden that their
lives are literally being shortened. The chemicals
are being carried through the atmosphere or
in the water where they are absorbed by fish
and carried up the marine food chain. The
chemical concentration in seals is so high
that it is well over WHO recommended levels.
An Inuit woman eats seal meat as part of her
regular diet and will absorb these chemicals".
Guarding against chemical hazards
So what is the answer for guarding against
the spread of these chemicals?
"Obviously, we could take precautions
over the use and spread of dangerous chemicals
if we knew the pathways they go through",
she said. "The EEA is currently trying
to track these down".
Taking a long-term view on chemical regulation
So how did she view the lobbying that has
been gaining momentum as the REACH negotiations
enter their final stage?
"The better end of the chemical industry
doesn’t complain - they understand the point
of it", she explained. "However,
sometimes it seems that the trade associations
are being brought down to the lowest common
denominator".
She believes that in the long term the chemical
companies could benefit from REACH. It would
ensure that all the chemicals they produce
are safe and so save them from the possibility
of facing cases for chemical damage.
She referred to the current law suit brought
by the Arctic Inuit against the USA government
on the grounds that USA greenhouse gas emissions
are destroying the Inuit way of life. She
foresaw that this might happen with chemicals.
"It could be possible to take a ‘class
action’ against companies which produce a
particularly hazardous chemical", she
explained.
In fact this is already beginning to happen.
Residents near the DuPont production plant
in North Carolina have taken up a class action
suit against DuPont for polluting their water
with PFOS and PFOA (the same chemicals found
in McGlade’s blood) during the process of
producing Teflon.
Professor McGlade is clearly someone who
takes a long-term global perspective on chemical
regulation, "We have to have REACH. At
present we are spreading contamination to
all parts of the world," she concluded.
