Do you know that besides lifestyle and diet, toxic chemicals in our life are considered by scientists as increasing cancer and other diseases of affluence risk?
According to Eurobarometr [1] 4 in 5 Europeans are afraid of chemical’s impact on their health. Fairma Ethical Design joined ‘Pytaj o chemię’ (Ask about chemicals) campaign, run in Poland by Fundaca Kupuj Odpowiedzialnie foundation. One of the campaign’s elements is an app Pytaj o chemię improving consumer – manufacturer communication.
What the campaign Pytaj o chemię (Ask about chemicals) is about?
From the very beginning Fundacja Kupuj Odpowiedzialnie foundation pays attention to environmental issues. Overproduction, hiperconsumption and harmful chemicals in products that we use daily are destroying our planet, but also our health. The goal of the campaign is raising awareness about toxic chemicals and improving communication between consumers and manufacturers. The campaign is addressed to manufacturers, chain stores sellers and consumers.
Toxic chemicals - what you should know?
Items we use every day like clothes, shoes, household appliances, toys, sport accessories, furniture etc. - can contain chemical substances that impact our health negatively. The law calls them SVHC (Substances of very high concern). It is a list of substances tested by European Chemicals Agency showing cancerogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction process characteristics, bioaccumulating or violating the hormonal balance. The list is updated every six months. Whenever a new substance shows up on that list - it immediately imposes an obligation on manufacturer to answer consumer's questions about the product.
These chemicals can enter human’s organism by touch, through inhalation system or by contacting food we eat or water we drink.
These substances are not only harmful for our health but also to the environment.
Ask about chemicals. You have the right to know!
According to 33 article of European REACH ordinance everyone can ask a manufacturer, seller or an importer if the product contains SVHC toxic chemicals. The company then has 45 days for reply. If the substance in a product (like furniture, clothes, toys, electronic devices…) exceeds the concentration of 0,1% then everyone in a supply chain needs to inform their consumers about it.
What can a consumer do? Get an app Pytaj o chemię (Ask about chemicals).
The campaign’s project included building an app for smartphones – Pytaj o chemię, by which you can scan a product’s code or fill it’s name in and then easily ask the manufacturer if there is over 0,1% of any of the SVHC substances in his product. You can download the app HERE.
If you want to know more about toxic substances’ impact, go to the foundation’s website, where you can find all the articles:
https://www.ekonsument.pl/chemikalia
The project is a part of European LIFE AskREACH project created in collaboration with 20 partners from 13 UE countries. The project’s leader is UBA managing the project within UE LIFE programm.
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[1] Eurobarometr in 2017
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