21 June 2000: Greenpeace letter to European Ministers Concerning TBT in Consumer Products
Austria
will table a discussion on a ban on TBT (Tributyltin) in consumer products
on the European Union agenda at the Environment Council meeting (22nd June,
Luxembourg).
The letter that Greenpeace has sent to Ministers is included below and chronology
of organotins in consumer products send to EU Environment ministers is available
here (pdf file)
RE:
Environment Council 22 June 2000 - Organotin compounds in nappies and
Community strategy on chemical products
Brussels, 21 June 2000
Dear,
We are writing to you to express our serious concerns about the recent findings of organotins in nappies. The finding of these highly toxic substances in nappies is not only worrying in itself, but illustrates a far broader problem - the failure of the existing Community legislation on chemicals.
The occurrence of organotins in nappies is only one in a whole series of findings of organotins in various consumer products over the last years (see chronology). In 1997, organotins were detected i.a. in tampons, sanitary pads and diapers in the Netherlands. In early 2000, tributyltin was found in Scotchbrite scouring pads in Sweden. In the course of 2000, in addition to the findings of organotins in nappies, organotins were found in PVC print of textiles, PVC flooring, foot spray, PVC garden hoses and indoor wall paints in Germany. What products will be next?
This chain of scandals exemplifies the unacceptable reality of Community legislation on chemicals. Even the most toxic chemicals are found in consumer products, often with direct contact to the consumer. While some organotin compounds, albeit hazardous, are known to be used e.g. as PVC stabilisers, the presence of other organotin compounds in these products, in particular of tributyltin, often remains unexplained.
Product manufacturers have so far proved unwilling or unable to solve the problem. Not only have they failed to guarantee the safety of their products in the first place by not ensuring that no such chemicals are present in their products, but their reactions after the findings remain isolated. While manufacturers were said to have removed the source of organotins from the hygiene products tested in the Netherlands in 1997, new sources appeared in Germany - as the recent findings in nappies illustrate - although the same manufacturers were involved.
The chemical industry has proved to be even less able to tackle the problem. They continue to produce and market chemicals in huge quantities with little knowledge about even basic hazard of most of them, and even less knowledge about their uses.
Therefore, we urge you to take immediate steps against the specific problem of organotins by banning their use in all consumer products, and in all other applications which result in releases to the environment, such as anti-fouling paint and pesticide formulations.
Furthermore,
we urge you to ensure that the future Community policy on chemicals stops
the production and marketing of substances which:
- lack information on production volumes, exact uses and basic hazard data,
or
- are known to be persistent, toxic, or bioaccumulative or of equal concern
e.g. endocrine disrupters.
Yours sincerely,
EU Toxics Advisor
PS:
An alternative approach to chemicals regulation in Europe, based on the application
of the precautionary principle, is outlined in the report
"The Way Forward Out of the Chemicals Crisis", (pdf file) published
by Greenpeace International in 1999.
More on TBT:
TBT
Factsheet
TBT Pollution Hotspots:
Rotterdam
Harbour, Netherlands
Antwerp
Harbour, Belgium