WECF director gives key-note speech during Ministerial Conference in Budapest
Indoor plastic burning and chemicals in household products are a great threat to children`s health.
23.07.2004 |Annemarie Mohr
Extract from the plenary speech by Sascha Gabizon:
"Therefore it is essential that you as ministers of health and environment, immediately do three things
- Inform your people –your doctors, your nurses, your teachers, your local administrators, the general public - about the health dangers of burning plastic waste. People in the CEE and NIS have NO idea about the dangers of burning plastic waste!! They should be informed urgently!
- Ban PVC packaging and all chlorinated plastic and promote less dangerous types of plastic but in particular, promote re-usable packaging such as glass and paper, by using market instruments such as deposit schemes and taxes on one-way packaging
- Develop with your colleagues of the other ministries social schemes to allow the poorest families to have heating in winter without destroying their health"
- Develop a strong action plan for children’s health, which also focusses on toxic material in houses. For the European Union countries a good start has been made with the SCALE Health and Environment Action plan!
- Develop a good chemicals legislation which will give incentives to progressive companies to substitute the thousands of dangerous chemicals being used in everyday home products by non-toxic alternatives, in particular the alternatives should not be bio-accumulative, persistent and hormone-disrupting. For the countries part of the EU, we call on your to support and strengthen the proposed chemicals legislation REACH. Stand up for a toxic free future for our children, show courage to protect the future generations!
