Dangerous chemicals are everywhere.

Every day, children are exposed to harmful chemicals in the food they eat, the water they drink, the air they breathe and from products inside of their homes. Even at very low doses, research increasingly links childhood exposure to hazardous chemicals to a range of diseases and disorders – including impaired brain development, diabetes and various cancers.

This constant, silent exposure is an attack on children’s health and human rights. It affects their right to health and bodily integrity, to survival and non-discrimination, and even their right to play. Permissive legislation on chemicals not only has serious implications for the planet’s health; it is a severe violation of children’s rights and wellbeing.

‘The Child and the Crow’ is an exhibition created by the Child Rights International Network (CRIN), with artwork by illustrator Miriam Sugranyes. Our aim is to raise awareness about chemicals legislation in the European Union and its impact on children. We hope to trigger discussions about hazardous chemicals in the EU, informing EU leaders about how they overlap with children’s rights, their effects and possible solutions. How can the EU end the contamination of children in Europe and beyond?

What do we mean when we talk about children’s rights?

When people discuss protecting children, they often talk about children as ‘the future’. They argue that children should be kept safe because they will be adults tomorrow, not because they’re children today. In reality, this is a paternalistic narrative that undermines children’s rights and autonomy. Children are already fully entitled to human rights, and they must have these rights upheld through laws and policies.

Despite the well-documented risks that hazardous chemicals pose to children’s health and development, EU chemicals legislation and legislative proposals rarely acknowledge the overlap between exposure and children’s rights. Current regulations often fail to safeguard children’s rights to safe water, food, housing, bodily integrity and play. This harm could have been prevented if children’s rights and relevant human rights instruments were considered early in each process, and explicitly embedded in chemicals regulations. A children’s rights framework should guide all chemicals decision-making, acting as a compass instead of an afterthought.

The European Union and its Member States have committed to respect, enforce and protect the rights of all children under legally binding United Nations and European texts, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. According to those agreements, the child's best interests must be a primary consideration in all actions relating to children. The EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child also states that all children have a right to a good standard of living.

The EU and its institutions can genuinely safeguard children from chemical contamination in Europe and abroad. The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (adopted in 2020) lays a solid groundwork for the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the EU to work together to improve chemicals laws and policies. Protecting children from exposure to hazardous chemicals must be a priority for each and every decision-maker working on EU chemicals regulations.

Children’s safety depends on the EU horizontal legislation, REACH.

The Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) controls the way hazardous chemicals are assessed and managed. In force since 2007, REACH’s main aim is to protect human health and the environment, while promoting transparency and innovation in the chemicals industry. REACH is central to protecting citizens against harmful chemicals in the EU and connects subsequent legislation – including the EU’s Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation. Changing this legislation can change children’s lives, for better or worse. Revising REACH is a pivotal opportunity to better protect children’s health and uphold their rights. The text can be modernised with improvements that reflect the latest state of science, close legal loopholes and strengthen existing health protections.

In view of children’s legal right to have their best interests made a primary consideration in all matters that concern them (under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child), decision-making that impacts children should always be guided by the precaution against and the prevention of harm. The EU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union also establishes the precautionary principle and the principle of prevention as core elements of the EU’s environmental policy. These principles should be foundational to REACH’s new mandate.

The protection of children and their rights against harmful exposure depends on decisions grounded in science, with actions based on the latest available evidence. This revision is an unprecedented opportunity for EU decision-makers to champion children’s rights.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of thousands of synthetic chemicals defined by their extremely strong carbon-fluorine bonds.

These bonds make PFAS highly resistant to heat, water and oil, which is why they are widely used in industrial processes and consumer products, including pesticides, food packaging, cookware, cosmetics and other everyday items.

These same bonds also make PFAS highly resistant to environmental degradation. Commonly known as ‘forever chemicals’, PFAS build up in our air, water, and soil, taking anywhere from a decade to thousands of years to break down. As a result, they accumulate both in the natural environment and in living organisms, with serious consequences for ecological and human health.

PFAS can cross the placenta and act as endocrine disruptors, significantly affecting fetal growth and development. Exposure has been linked to health issues that persist across a lifetime: from preterm birth through early-childhood development and into adulthood. Some effects can be irreversible and may even be passed from one generation to the next. Among the extensive body of scientific evidence, a large 2024 Finnish study found that prenatal exposure to certain PFAS is associated with an increased risk of childhood leukaemia. Moreover, PFAS contamination carries economic costs, impacting family finances and national economies – costs that are expected to rise as exposure continues.

In 2023, five EU Member States proposed banning PFAS in a wide range of industrial and consumer uses. The EU must adopt this proposal as a unified bloc, covering all industry sectors and all non-essential uses. Only by acting decisively can the EU protect children’s health and fulfil its commitments under the Child Rights Strategy and the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability.

In force since 2013, the EU’s Cosmetic Regulation (CPR) is the primary regulatory framework for cosmetic products placed on the EU market; it aims to ensure that all finished products are safe for consumer use.

In recent years, the CPR has undergone several assessments – including Fitness Checks on chemicals legislation and on endocrine disruptors, which identified several shortcomings. In the EU’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (2020), and through its recent review process, the Commission repeatedly acknowledged the need to modernise the text, stressing the aim to support the chemical industry’s green transition by minimising and substituting chemicals that have a chronic effect on the environment, as well as phasing out the most harmful chemicals for non-essential societal uses.

As it stands, hazardous substances can still be found in cosmetic and personal care products sold on the EU market. In addition to these improvements, the Regulation must also address ongoing children’s rights violations linked to chemical exposure. While some chemicals are prohibited for intended use by children under certain ages, children - including those above the prescribed age limits - continue to be exposed to dangerous substances. This exposure can happen directly as well as prenatally, when the chemicals from products used during pregnancy cross the placental barrier and affect foetal development. Exposure during this window of heightened biological vulnerability can have lasting consequences on children’s health and long-term wellbeing.

To protect children and uphold their rights, a comprehensive revision of the CPR must lead to the efficient restriction of chemicals harmful to children, including endocrine disruptors, and other substances that damage the environment. In strengthening the assessment, management and enforcement of chemicals, a modern CPR would both reflect current science and help the EU to deliver on its human rights commitments.

Exposure to hazardous pesticides is a daily reality for children.

Children are exposed through the food they eat, the water they drink and the places they live. This exposure poses a serious threat to children’s health and violates their right to health, life and to grow in a safe and healthy environment. Scientific evidence links pesticide exposure to increased risks of serious diseases – as well as learning and developmental difficulties – that can persist throughout a lifetime.

Children are especially vulnerable to hazardous pesticides. Relative to their body weight, children absorb higher doses of toxic substances than adults. As noted by the UN Special Rapporteurs on the right to food and on toxics and human rights in their 2017 joint report, even low-level exposure – such as pesticide residues on food or wind drift from agricultural land – can have profound and irreversible effects. The report also highlights the risks of prenatal exposure, as pesticide exposure during pregnancy is associated with miscarriage, premature birth and birth defects.

Beyond their direct health impacts, hazardous pesticides also degrade the environment. Once applied, they spread through soil and water systems; they contaminate crops, accumulate inside the bodies of animals and seep into the human food chain. This loss of biodiversity weakens ecosystems that support agriculture, nutrition and local livelihoods, threatening food security and the long-term economic stability of children and their families across the EU. The decline in biodiverse green spaces also reduces opportunities for children to benefit from nature, which is increasingly recognised as essential for children’s mental health.

While the EU’s Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (2009) contributes towards reducing these harms, gaps in ambition, and the lack of implementation and enforcement, continue to leave children insufficiently protected. Improving this key legislation is a necessary next step to safeguard children’s health, rights and futures.

Despite growing evidence of harm to children’s health and the environment, progress has stalled in phasing out hazardous pesticides.

In November 2023, the European Parliament rejected the draft regulation on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides. This decision underscores the need for renewed political ambition to curb the use of hazardous pesticides, prevent pesticide-related harms and address ongoing violations of children’s rights. The European Union must implement a clear, binding framework that meaningfully restricts the use of hazardous pesticides – particularly in places where children live, learn and play.

The conclusions of the Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture could present a viable path forward, with concrete actions stressing the need to reduce pesticides use and accelerate the transition towards fairer, more sustainable food systems. These recommendations recognise how reducing our reliance on hazardous pesticides is key to safeguarding public health, restoring biodiversity and ensuring long-term food security for future generations.

Pesticide reduction can start today, with the implementation of existing EU legislation. Effective enforcement of the Directive on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides is essential, alongside robust National Action Plans that deliver measurable reductions in pesticide use. Integrated Pest Management should also be implemented, prioritising prevention, non-chemical alternatives and low-risk solutions that reduce exposure for children, local communities and ecosystems.

A just transition from hazardous pesticides must also support farmers and farm workers. Phasing out pesticides should go hand-in-hand with better working conditions and fairer incomes for farmers. The EU has a central role to play in addressing the real challenges farmers face, which includes climate instability, biodiversity loss and growing economic pressures. Farmers need funding, technical assistance and policy support during the switch to agroecological practices.

Children need stronger protection from harmful chemicals, but the European Union is doing the opposite…

In the EU’s pursuit of deregulation, key safeguards are currently being diluted across major chemical laws, including the Pesticides Regulation, the Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation, and core provisions of the Cosmetic Products Regulation.

By dismantling established human health protections and safety standards, these new ‘Omnibus’ measures seriously jeopardise the EU’s commitments under the Green Deal and its obligations stemming from legally binding human rights agreements – including its own treaties and charters. They also contradict the European Commission’s stated ambitions on intergenerational fairness and its forthcoming Strategy.

Rolling back essential safety and transparency requirements will not strengthen competitiveness or support EU businesses. Instead, the EU risks undermining human health and environmental protection, while fostering mistrust among consumers and families in the EU’s ability to protect them. Deregulation may also negatively impact companies, with fast-changing rules that make investments uncertain. It could also disadvantage companies who’ve already invested in safer, green solutions.

In the end, these ‘Omnibus’ measures don’t simplify processes; they strip them of their capacity to keep citizens safe from hazardous substances. EU chemicals legislation should be revised and modernised, not weakened. Clear, comprehensive and health-driven reforms (aligned with Green Deal commitments) can support sustainable competitiveness while maintaining consumer trust in the EU market and its companies. Existing requirements are neither too costly nor burdensome. Weaker rules, however, will carry real costs – and children will be paying the price.

The EU has a double standard when it comes to chemical safety.

In a children’s rights context, non-discrimination is not only a right but a cardinal principle, one that underpins the realisation of all other rights. With the adoption of the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child in 2021, the European Union recognised this same rule: stating that every child should enjoy the same rights and live free from intimidation or discrimination, wherever they live.

In line with this commitment, the European Commission agreed to take concrete action to fulfil, protect and promote children’s rights across all contexts and borders. When it comes to the export of hazardous chemicals, however, the EU has (so far) fallen short on its promises. Although the Commission said it would ‘lead by example’ by ensuring that hazardous chemicals banned in the EU are no longer produced for export – five years on, these prohibited substances can still be manufactured and shipped abroad, and the relevant legislation has yet to be amended. There is a clear double standard in the EU’s commitments to chemical safety, as well as children’s rights.

This neglect has a measurable impact. In 2024, the EU exported nearly 122,000 tonnes of its own banned pesticides, almost double the amount notified in 2018. These exports reached a total of 93 non-EU countries. As well as harming children abroad, these same banned chemicals can often be imported back into the EU market, returning through imported food and consumer goods. By allowing the ‘toxic trade’ to continue, the EU has contaminated its own children and undermined its own safeguarding practices.

Hazardous substances don’t magically become safe when they cross a border. If a substance is too dangerous for children in Europe, why would it be harmless to children elsewhere? In exporting prohibited substances, the EU risks eroding its credibility, legal commitments and its international reputation. Ending the production and export of banned chemicals (including pesticides) would help the EU to fulfil its human rights obligations and match the ambitions of the EU Strategies on Chemicals Sustainability and the Rights of the Child.

Climate change, biodiversity loss and chemical pollution are a ‘triple ecological crisis’, and they must be addressed as an interconnected issue. It is misguided to be prioritising climate policies over chemical ones, as they belong together. The green transition, as well as protective climate and biodiversity actions, all hinge in part on stronger chemicals legislation. Chemical pollution drives environmental degradation and damages vital ecosystems. Hazardous substances persist in the environment long after their release; they accumulate in food chains and human bodies, where early-life exposure can have lasting consequences for children’s health and development; and they undermine ecological functions essential for the climate’s wellbeing. They are, ultimately, a children’s rights issue.

The European Union is committing to intergenerational fairness and to protecting children’s health. It has the tools and the responsibility to deliver on these commitments. The EU must strengthen its chemicals legislation to reduce preventable exposure, protect habitats, and safeguard the health of current and future generations. The green transition (as well as effective climate and biodiversity policies) depends on stronger rules governing decarbonisation, detoxification, and sustainable patterns of consumption and production.

Strong legislation matters. Chemical pollution cannot be stopped by borders. It can even pass through generations. The production and sale of harmful substances affect not only current EU citizens but also those yet to be born. Is this the legacy the EU wants to leave them?

Every hazardous chemical produced and released is a chapter in the EU’s history. Without urgent action, children will continue to be exposed from an early age and natural systems will deteriorate across Europe – causing irreparable damage to human health and the environment. Prosperity cannot be built on pollution. Modernising key legislation – including REACH and rules on cosmetics and pesticides – can ensure chemicals no longer define the story for children, their health and the world they live in now.

This is a defining challenge for the European Union in its time.

‘Given humanity’s trajectory on toxics, climate change, and biodiversity loss, the planet is at risk of becoming a human sacrifice zone. But the transformative potential of the right to a toxic free environment can help us keep our planet habitable.’

– UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Marcos Orellana; and UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, David Boyd (March 2022)