Posted on January, 18 2005

Brussels, Belgium – Twenty-five women and their families from the UK Women’s Institute were in Brussels this week with WWF to lobby Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on the importance of controlling the use of dangerous chemicals.
 
"We’ve come from all parts of England and Wales to make sure MEPs understand how important it is for REACH to be passed," said Tracy Sortwell, of the Women's Institute's Public Affairs Committee.

"This shows how seriously we feel about the issue. We hope that MEPs will be listening to the genuine concerns of their constituents." 
 
REACH (Register, Evaluate and Authorize Chemicals) is the proposed new EU chemical law that is expected to lead to the identification and phasing out of the most harmful chemicals.

The Women's Institute (WI) — with over 215,000 members and 7,000 groups  — has organized a vigorous campaign with WWF for REACH, including collecting many of the 77,000 signatures on a petition presented to the European Parliament last year.

The control of hazardous chemicals is an issue that has captured WI members’ interests. Many have spoken of their concern as mothers and grandmothers about the chemicals that their children have in their blood and how, as nursing mothers, they could have passed these on in breastfeeding. 
 
WI members lobbied their MEPs and addressed the Petitions Committee, which was one of the high points of their visit. Ruth Bond spoke passionately to the Committee of MEPs:
 
"I am here to represent the very real concerns of ordinary people. I speak as a citizen of Europe, a consumer, and above all as a mother. I hope this demonstrates the vast amount of concern – especially from women." 
 
The WI lobby coincides with the beginning of the legislative process. This week all European Parliamentary Committees involved in REACH are meeting. The women are anxious that the strong lobbying by chemical companies doesn’t cause MEPs to overlook the dangers of many chemicals in everyday use.
 
The WI is also asking for "the right to know" what chemicals each product contains. As part of their lobbying efforts, they brought cutting boards, cleaning materials, carpets, and cosmetics to demonstrate that everything they used is heavy with chemicals.
 
"We want chemicals labelled with a label we can understand, so we know what’s in things and then its up to us whether we buy it or not," explained Ruth Bond. 

The WI is also asking that the precautionary principle be used.

"Society needs to take precautions about what chemicals are used," she explained.
 
WI's interest in the campaign started after WWF organized a series of blood tests, which demonstrated to members how polluted they were.

"I found I had 22 chemicals, including DDT and the pesticide lindane," Ruth Bond said about her own experience. "They shouldn’t be there at all. I want to pass good things onto my children, not chemicals."
 
Others at the lobby, including the Poll family from Suffolk, England, explained that they were in Brussels to meet MEPs because their blood tests had shown that their daughter’s level of flame retardants was as high as her mother’s.

"We are meeting MEPs to tell them what we found and to persuade them to support the initiative to phase out hazardous chemicals," the family said.
 
The WI has vigorously campaigned in England and Wales, holding public days explaining about chemicals and health and organizing ‘toxic tours’ of their houses to find out which products contain chemicals. They have also produced their own guide, Simple Solutions, with tips on reducing exposure to chemicals in the home. 
 
"The response from Members has surpassed anything the WI has been campaigning about for years," said Barbara Gill, WI’s National Chair. "Most of us feel passionately that our children and grandchildren shouldn’t be polluted. We hope that as parents, MEPs feel the same."

NOTES:
• WWF's international DetoX campaign is calling for REACH, the proposed chemicals legislation in the EU, to phase out chemicals that are persistent and bioaccumulative, or those that can disrupt the endocrine system and only allow their continued use where there is an overwhelming societal need, where no safer alternatives exist, and where measures to minimize exposure are put in place. 

For further information:
Julian Scola, Head of Communications
WWF DetoX Campaign
Tel: +32 2 743 8806
E-mail: jscola@wwfepo.org