Over sixty top independent scientists from across Europe, working in the field of hazardous man-made chemicals, have signed a WWF Declaration.

They say we should reduce our exposure to chemicals that disrupt hormones and very persistent and very bioaccumulative chemicals. They also say there should be requirement to substitute hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives when those alternatives exist.

Declaration on chemicals, health and environmental protection

"Being aware of the problems that have become evident, over time, from the use of chemicals that persist and bioaccumulate in humans and wildlife, we consider that chemicals with these properties are undesirable.

For endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), where there is good evidence that they can cause changes to the normal physiology of organisms, we suggest that it would be prudent to try to eliminate, or at least minimise, exposure. Recognising the uncertainty regarding the extent of the adverse effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals, and the fact that some of these chemicals can act in an additive manner, we suggest that exposure reduction is warranted. This exposure reduction should proceed even when there is a lack of evidence that predicted or actual exposure levels of the individual EDC causes population level effects in wildlife species, or harm to human health.

Therefore, we support a presumption against the use of very persistent and very bioaccumulative chemicals (vPvBs). We also support the move towards a reduction in the use of such EDCs. Therefore, for both vPvBs and EDCs, where safer alternatives are judged to be available, there should be a requirement to use such alternatives."


Signed:


Prof. Ake Bergman
Dept. of Environmental Chemistry,
Stockholm University, Sweden

Prof. Charles R. Tyler
Environmental & Molecular Fish Biology
University of Exeter, UK

Dr. Andreas Kortenkamp
Centre for Toxicology
The School of Pharmacy
University of London

Prof. Kevin C. Jones
Dept. of Environmental Science
Lancaster University UK

Dr. Jorma Toppari
Dept. of Pediatrics & Physiology
University of Turku, Finland

Prof. Jose Amaral-Mendes
Dept. of Ecology
University of Evora,Portugal

Prof. Chris Mason
Dept. of Biological & Chemical Sciences
University of Essex UK

Prof. Alex Aguilar
Dept. of Animal Biology
University of Barcelona, Spain

Prof. JÖrg Oehlmann
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University
Germany

Prof. Ibrahim Chahoud
Freie Universitat Berlin
Germany

Dr. Werner Kloas
Dept. of Inland Fisheries
Germany

Dr. Polyxeni Nicolopoulou-Stamati
Asst. Prof. Of Pathology
Medical School of Athens, Greece

Prof. Leif Norrgren
Dept. of Pathology
Uppsala University, Sweden

Gunnar Bengtsson
Assoc. Prof. Of Radiation Physics
Sweden

Dr. Sandra Meijer
Dept. of Environmental Science
Lancaster University UK

Dr. Gareth Thomas
Dept. of Environmental Sciences
Lancaster University, UK

Prof. Eva Bonefeld-Jorgensen
Dept. of Env. & Occupational Medicine
University of Aarhus, Denmark

Dr. Nicolás Olea
Laboratory of Medical Investigations
University of Granada, Spain

Helle Raun Andersen
Institute of Public Health
Odense, Denmark

Prof. Finn Bro-Rasmussen
Institute of Production & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Dr. John Meerman
Molecular Toxicology
Vrihe Universiteit Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Prof. P.J. Sauer
Dept. of Pediatrics
Beatrix Children's Hospital
The Netherlands

Prof. Jerzy Falandysz
Environmental Chemistry & Ecotoxicology
University of Gdansk, Poland

Prof. Bogdan Skwarzec
Environmental Chem. & Ecotoxicology
University of Gdansk, Poland

Prof. Jirí Matoušek
Environmental Chem. & Ecotoxicology
Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic

Dr. Allan Hersted Jensen
Institute of Production & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Dr. Henrik Wenzel Christensen
Institute for Product Development
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Dr. Michael Hauschild
Institute of Production & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

John Holten-Anderssen
Dept. of Engineering & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Inge RØpke
Dept. of Engineering & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Dr. Rainer Lohmann
Environmental Sciences
Lancaster University, UK

Philip Sebastian Hjelmborg
Dept. of Env. & Occupational Medicine
University of Aarhus, Denmark

Dr. Michael SØgaard Jorgensen
Dept. of Engineering & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Dr. Ole Broberg
Dept. of Engineering & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Thomas Jacobsen
Dept. of Engineering & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Mette Dyhrberg
Dept. of Engineering & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Annegrethe Hansen
Dept. of Engineering & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Dr. Henrik K. Larsen
Institute of Production & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Gunnar Toft
Dept. of Occupational Medicine
Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark

Ms. Charlotte De Roo
Environment, Safety & Health Advisor
BEUC, Belgium

Christian Poll, M.Sc.
Institute of Production & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Dr. Stig I. Olsen
Institute of Production & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Dr. Margaret Schlumpf
Institute of Pharmacology & Toxicology
University of Zurich, Switzerland

Dr. Walter Lichtensteiger
Institute of Pharmacology & Toxicology
University of Zurich, Switzerland

Dr. C.V. Howard
Dept. of Human Anatomy & Cell Biology
University of Liverpool, UK

Dr. Phillipa Darbre
School of Animal & Microbial Sciences
Reading University, UK

Dr. Niels Frees
Institute of Production & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Dr. Chris Talsness
Freie Universitat Berlin
Germany

Hans. H. Knudsen
Institute of Production & Mgt.
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Jonathan Barber
Lancaster University, UK

Marlene Vind Hofmeister
Dept. of Env. & Occupational Medicine
University of Denmark, Denmark

Dr. Ewa Rajpert-De Meyts
Dept. of Growth & Reproduction
Rigshospitalet, Denmark

Charles Sultan
Dept. Endocrinology
Hopital A. de Villeneuve, France

Dr. Annika I. Smeds
Dept. of Organic Chemistry
Abo Akademi University, Finland

Dr. Farzad Pakdel
Universite de Rennes
Campus de Beaulieu, France

Prof. Lars Hagmar
Dept. of Occupational & Env. Medicine
Lund University Hospital, Sweden

Dr. Corinne Charlier
Laboratoire Toxicologie clinique
University of Liege, Belgium

Willem Dhooge
Dept. Endocrinology
University Hospital Gent, Belgium

Henrik Rasmus Andersen
Inst. of Analytical & Pharmaceutical Chem.
The Royal Danish School of Pharmacy, Denmark

Prof. Catherine Bennetau-Pelissero
Micronutrients, Reproduction & Health
Enita of Bordeaux, France

Assoc. Prof. S. de Muinck Keizer-Schrama
Division of Endocrinology
Sophia Children's Hospital, The Netherlands

Asst. Prof. Karin Kinnberg
Institute of Biology
University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Maria Pia Guarneri
Hospital San Raffaele
Italy

Hellmuth Lilienthal
Medical Institute of Environmental Hygiene
Heinrich Heine University, Germany

Erica van den Akker
Pediatrics
Erasmus University Hospital Rotterdam
The Netherlands

Dr. Maria Pia Guarneri
Pediatric Unit, Hospital San Raffaele
Italy

Dr. Konstanze Grote
Benjamin Franklin Medical Center, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology
Germany

Dr. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon
Division of Paediatric & Adolescent Medicine, University of Liege
Belgium

Prof. Dr. Martin H. Birkhauser
Division of Gynae. Endocrinology & Reproductive Medicine, University of Berne
Switzerland

Dr. Joachim Wistuba
Institut fur Reprodukionsmedizin, Domagkstr. 11
Germany

Professor Andrew Watterson
Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group
University of Stirling, Scotland

Professor Stephen Holgate
Division of Infection, Inflammation and Repair
University of Southampton School of Medicine
Southampton, UK

Professor Andrew E Derocher
Dept. of Biological Sciences
University of Alberta, Canada

Dr Hans Wolkers
Research/Ecotoxicology
Norwegian Polar Institute

John Peterson Myers, Ph.D.
CEO Environmental Health Sciences Information Center
White Hall VA, USA

Shanna H. Swan, Ph.D.
Research Professor: Family and Community Medicine
University of Missouri, Columbia, USA

Louis J. Guillette Jr., Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Zoology
University of Florida, USA


Dr. Klaus Guenter Steinhaeuser
Chemist
Germany

Dr. Wilfred S G Archer
Occupational Health, Safety and Risk Management
Scotland, UK

Hanns Moshammer MD
Inst. Environmental Health
University of Vienna, Austria

James Brophy & Margaret Keith
Visiting Research Fellows at the Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group
University of Stirling, Scotland, UK


Professor Malcolm Hooper
Emeritus Professor of Medicinal Chemistry
School of Sciences, University of Sunderland, UK