Mix of hazardous chemicals under your bed
"This report shows that highly problematic chemicals, such as chemicals on the SIN List, are commonly found under people’s beds. In order for people to be able to sleep well at night the EU and all European countries must act strongly. Currently people are not properly protected by EU laws from this cocktail of endocrine disrupters," says ChemSec Director Anne-Sofie Andersson.
The study presented today looks at the chemicals present in dust, and does not take into account other sources of chemical exposure in indoor environments. Even only considering dust, the findings show that the total level of phthalates where in some countries found to be higher than what public authorities today consider to be safe, if the cocktail effect is considered.
The report Home sweet home - dusty surprises under the bed also highlights that in order to fully understand the effects that EDCs have on our health and reproduction, new risk assessment methods for EDCs are crucial, methods which take into account the ability of EDCs to have significant effects even at very low doses.
"We strongly encourage the European Commission and every EU member state to speed up the process and nominate EDCs to the REACH Candidate List. We also encourage companies to phase out EDCs from their products," says ChemSec project coordinator Frida Hök.
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