European cruelty free network urges European Union to use its new Green Deal as a catalyst for change
In December the European Commission published its new Green Deal for Europe, outlining the EU’s environmental strategy for the next five years. The deal includes plans to better protect citizens and the environment from hazardous chemicals and highlights the need for EU chemical regulation to address the risks posed by endocrine disruptors, hazardous chemicals in products, the combination effects of different chemicals and very persistent chemicals.
Unfortunately, EU chemicals rules currently deal with substances individually and largely depend on information from testing on animals. This approach is slow, costly, inhumane and generates results that don't provide what we really need to protect human and ecological health into the future.
Cruelty Free Europe's Director of Science, Dr Katy Taylor, says: "It’s clear that the potential hazards of many chemical substances in our environment are not well understood; but a reliance on testing on animals will not deliver the comprehensive and accurate understanding we require. To achieve the Commission’s aims, EU chemicals regulation must urgently incorporate a new generation of modern and powerful non-animal approaches for the evaluation of chemicals and chemical mixtures that is truly meaningful for the protection of citizens and the environment. A drive to better understand all the chemicals we are exposed to must be underpinned by investment in scientifically sound non-animal hazard testing methods, exposure monitoring methods and risk assessment strategies.”