24 February 2013

Govt must act on new toxic chemicals report

A new report which links endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals to increasing rates of cancer and other health problems highlights the need for greater use of the precautionary principle by Government when approving the use of chemicals, the Green Party said today.

The State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organization, identifies that over 800 chemicals are known or suspected to be capable of interfering with hormone receptors. The report says this number is the tip of the iceberg with around 145,000 chemicals yet to be assessed for their ability to disrupt our endocrine, or hormone system.

“The Government should take this report seriously and think about how New Zealand can help enable a greater understanding of these chemicals and how to protect people from them,” said Green Party toxics spokesperson Catherine Delahunty.

“The Government could take a more precautionary approach when classifying hazardous chemicals and also look at requiring better labelling.

“However, labelling of chemicals is unhelpful if people don’t know the chemical is potentially harmful, so greater education of the public is necessary as well.

“There is strong evidence that some chemicals in common household items such as air fresheners, anti-bacterial soaps, and cleaning products are endocrine disruptors, yet the public is largely unaware.

“The Government needs to respond to this report positively and better protect New Zealanders from the dangers of endocrine disrupting chemicals,” Ms Delahunty said.

Reference:
UNEP news release: http://unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=2704&ArticleID=9403&l=en
Full State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals report: http://unep.org/pdf/9789241505031_eng.pdf

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Metservice: Where Will Snow Fall And What To Look Out For

The deep Antarctic air that is expected to sweep across the country this week is bringing very significant weather to many provinces.Here's the official MetService view of the key weather concerns for the country.

MetService Media and Communications Meteorologist Dan Corbett commented,"While snow will be a major issue for those in the South Island, wind and hail will affect many North Island districts."

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