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| Тема |
 chemicals- tobacco for WHO |
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| Автор | Kalina (Нерегистриран) | |
| Публикувано | 07.01.05 05:18 |
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Volume 364, Number 9429 10 July 2004
World Report
Chemical danger
Day-to-day chemicals have been blamed for recent increases in several diseases including
asthma and childhood cancer.
Fighting this threat means tackling some of the biggest companies in the world. But,
says Robert Walgate, WHO is prepared for battle
Chemicals could be the next tobacco for WHO, which put this issue high up on the agenda
of their 52- country conference on environment and health in Budapest, Hungary. There
are thousands of artificial chemicals floating around in each individual and according
to Vyvyan Howard, a toxicopathologist at Liverpool University, this chemical "soup" is
major worry. "We're talking literally of 10s of thousands of novel molecules", he says.
Far from being harmless, as the chemical industry protests, these substances have been
linked to several diseases--and children are particularly at risk. "We know these
chemicals are contributing to disease in children. This is not speculation. It's fact",
says Philip Landrigan, Chair of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine at
the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.
The danger posed by day-to-day chemicals has led WHO to make moves to strengthen
existing guidelines on safety testing.
The chemical industry looks set to take on WHO's challenge, but if past tussles with
industry are anything to go by, WHO could be in for a fight. The organisation's anti-
tobacco legislation was met by massive opposition from industry leaders and similar
reactions were seen by the food industry to WHO's resolution on diet, nutrition, and
exercise, announced earlier this year. But the chemical industry is keeping a close eye
on developments. Observers and lobbyists from large companies journeyed to Budapest to
argue their case. According to Marc Danzon, European regional director for WHO, the
chemical industry has "ignored health for many years". He said chemical industry
executives have "been a bit stressed by what's happening with the tobacco industry" and
nerves are starting to show. But, he emphasised that WHO was looking for "consensus and
dialogue" not conflict. "Health cannot be negotiated . . . We cannot be weak on that."
*snip*
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