As EU member states, regional and local authorities prepare to implement the revised Ambient Air Quality Directive (AAQD), this briefing by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) argues that decision-makers and authorities should pay particular attention to addressing socio-economic inequalities in their clean air efforts. The swift transposition and implementation of the new rules, with strengthened administrative collaboration and the full utilisation of financial support schemes, promise significant progress towards cleaner air across Europe. Improved air quality will be beneficial to everyone and contribute to preventing health inequalities for those living in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas.
19 January 2017, Brussels – Representing hundreds of environmental and health organisations in all 28 European Union Member States and further afield, 14 NGOs are calling for immediate action and answers as to why the Commission have not yet published a strategic approach to address the pharmaceutical pollution of water. The strategic approach was promised by September 2015 in a 2013 EC Directive 2013/39/EU. Article 8c of the 2013 directive states: “…the Commission shall, as far as possible within two years from 13 September 2013 develop a strategic approach to pollution of water by pharmaceutical substances”. (1) Over 16 months since this missed deadline, HCWH Europe, on behalf of concerned cosignatories, today sent a joint letter to European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Junker, Vice-President Frans Timmermans, Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs, and Fisheries Karmenu Vella, and Director General for Environment Daniel Calleja Crespo – expressing concern at the delay of the strategic approach, and calling upon the European Commission to protect human and environmental health. It is well known that pharmaceutical residues have been detected in surface water, sewage effluents, groundwater, drinking water, manure, soil, and other environmental matrices globally, including within the European Union. (2) The presence of pharmaceuticals in water contributes to environmental pollution, impacting on organisms such as fish and vegetation, and may have long-term impacts on human health. (3) Pharmaceuticals in water may also contribute to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – a serious global threat challenging the sustainability of European health systems. (4) The letter sent today on behalf of civil society is the basis of a new petition as part of the Safer Pharma campaign (www.saferpharma.org), organised by HCWH Europe, to address the delay of the strategic approach which is putting the health of EU citizens and the European environment at risk. Speaking about the delay, Anja Leetz, Executive Director of HCWH Europe said: Adela Maghear, HCWH Europe’s Pharmaceuticals Policy Officer adds: Dr. Peter Kälin, President of Doctors for the Environment, Switzerland says: Susan Haffmans, Senior Adviser for Pesticides and Veterinary Pharmaceuticals at Pesticide Action Network Germany states: Sascha Marschang, Policy Manager at European Public Health Alliance adds:
“All experts (including the UN), agree that we are facing a global pharmaceutical pollution problem and we need to minimise the release of medicine into the environment throughout their life cycle: production, use, and disposal. It is unacceptable that the Commission is delaying any action to protect human health and the environment and allowing pollution to continue. It is unacceptable that the Commission delays the process laid down by EU law and we expect the Commission to publish the roadmap swiftly, so we can begin to address the problem of pharmaceutical pollution.”
“Our drinking water may include an unwanted drug cocktail – a study in the Danube River Basin, spanning 14 EU countries, identified 7,767 chemical compounds, many of which were pharmaceuticals or their transformation products. (5) With the European Commission delaying to address this problematic issue, can we really expect a healthy future for us and our children?”
“Guidelines for minimising the pharmaceutical pollution of water are very important, especially because of antibiotic resistance. By publishing the roadmap the EU can become a leader in the reduction of pharmaceutical pollution, one we hope Switzerland will follow”.
“Tonnes of antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals like antiparasitica and hormones are used in food producing animals. Those pharmaceuticals contribute to water contamination all over Europe day by day.6 The European Commission must finally come up with their strategic approach, one that will secure an effective reduction of pharmaceutical discharge from animal livestock holdings. Such an approach must tackle the problem at its source, by supporting better husbandry that fosters animal health and well-being and subsequently reduce the need for large-scale pharmaceutical use”.
“It is crucial that the European Commission takes a holistic and coherent approach to pharmaceuticals in the environment, which recognises the important links between water pollution and the proliferation of “superbugs”. A strategy on pharmaceuticals in the environment is urgently required, and it must be clearly linked to the follow-up Action Plan on AMR given that resistant bacteria pose a major cross-border threat to health.”
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