Although the European Commission has promised to ban all but the most essential of the hazardous chemicals found in commonly used products in Europe, a new report by The Guardian indicates that they are prepared to break that promise. If they do so, it will continue a pattern of government regulators failing to adequately monitor businesses that release potentially hazardous chemicals into the environment.
Despite promising to prohibit "the most harmful chemicals in consumer products, allowing their use only where essential," leaked documents obtained by The Guardian reveal that regulators have been folding to industry pressure. The document presents three options (the European Commission usually chooses the middle one) and they include restricting 1%, 10% or 50% of the 7,000 to 12,000 hazardous substances in consumer products.
Perhaps the most prevalent and controversial of these chemicals are PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These chemicals are linked to cancer, liver disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, thyroid disease, autoimmune disease, birth defects and other serious health problems — even when people are only exposed at low levels. PFAS are also known as "forever chemicals" because they are not able to organically degrade, meaning once in the environment they tend to stay there permanently. In the United States and elsewhere, it is difficult to regulate these products because companies engage in a practice known as "regrettable substitution." This is when they make minor changes to dangerous chemicals to bypass regulations intended to catch them.
