The EU has an extensive body of legislation on chemicals, but it does not do enough to tackle the impacts harmful substances can have on children’s rights. Hazardous chemicals pose significant risks to children’s health, their environment and ultimately their rights. Children have a right to be protected from this by the EU and by Member States. With this project, we will advocate for EU chemical laws and policies that better protect children’s rights.
Why are we working on this project?
Research increasingly links childhood exposure to harmful chemicals to a range of diseases that manifest not only later in life (e.g. cancer, diabetes, and impaired brain function), but also at earlier ages (e.g. premature birth as well as cognitive and endocrine disorders). This violates children’s right to life, survival and development, their right to health, and their right to an adequate standard of living and a healthy environment. Moreover, children, their communities and their families have no say in decisions about which hazardous substances they are exposed to on a daily basis.
EU institutions have committed to always making children’s best interest a priority. Yet, a wide range of chemicals particularly harmful to children are still on the EU market. EU policies also have major shortcomings, ranging from a lack of accountability mechanisms in cases of chemical pollution, to not enough restrictions on hazardous substances.
Why now?
Since 2020, the EU has been conducting a review of several key EU laws. This review is part of the EU Chemical’s Strategy for Sustainability. It is a long-overdue opportunity to address the shortcomings of the current laws, and to improve them so that children can grow up in a clean, healthy and toxic-free environment.
With the revision of several laws regulating the use of chemicals both in general and in specific products such as toys and cosmetics, the EU has the opportunity to strengthen children’s protection against harmful substances.
What do we want to achieve?
We want to ensure that decision makers take children’s rights into primary consideration across all EU laws that relate to harmful chemicals.
EU laws must guarantee that all children are protected against exposure to hazardous substances, such as endocrine disruptors, nanomaterials, forever pollutants and pesticides.
By raising awareness on harmful chemicals, we want the EU to rethink the way chemicals are being assessed and restricted, and to improve access to information on these substances. With a better understanding of the impacts hazardous chemicals have on children's rights, we are hopeful to see hazardous substances prohibited and to see improved compliance with laws and better protection of children’s rights across the EU.
While this project focuses on the EU because of current opportunities, we aim to expand our focus on this crucial topic, including to address major issues such as tackling the export of hazardous substances by the EU to other countries globally.
What have we done so far, and how?
Over the years, CRIN has been sharing its human rights expertise with EU institutions and encouraging decision makers to better consider children’s rights across legislation on chemicals. Since 2023 we have been working on several pivotal EU revisions and initiatives.
What has the impact been so far?
Our impact varies and is always the result of the efforts of many, not just CRIN alone.
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Related areas of focus
Related content: Children’s access to environmental justice, Environment, Toxics, A-Z of children’s rights issues