Launch of the 2e Health Plan -Environment
- Plastic pollution -
Plastic pollution
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The 2009-2013 Health and Environment Plan Tackles Public Exposure to Toxic Substances
With a budget of 490 million euros, this twelve-point flagship plan intends to reduce exposure to chemical and biological molecules present in the air, water, food and soil, which could affect health .
Pregnant women or women of childbearing age and children are particularly targeted by this plan.
Developed by the Ministries of Health and the State Secretariat for Ecology, this Plan is a variation of the Grenelle de l'Environnement commitments.
It notes that, according to the World Health Organization, air pollution is responsible for more than 30.000 premature deaths in France and 300.000 in Europe. And that, according to a study by the Institute for Public Health Surveillance (INVS), 5 to 10% of cancers are linked to environmental factors.
Six "priority" substances such as mercury, PCBs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzene and the associated volatile organic compounds, dioxins or arsenic must have decreased by 30% between 2007 and 2013.
A Particle Plan will be put in place to combat the fine dust emitted by wood heating and circulation which cause irritations capable of degenerating into asthma or allergies: for the finest (PM2,5), they must have decreased by 30% in 2015 compared to today.
Women and children first
50 million euros are devoted to the protection of women and children with increased surveillance of toys, cosmetics, textiles and materials intended for them.
Targeted controls will be carried out and from 2010, information campaigns will be launched with the general public and pregnant women. The Plan suggests modifying the classification of certain substances, in order to make their uses more restrictive for manufacturers.
It mainly attacks "CMRs" - carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic substances (which alter reproductive health) - which are particularly worrying at a young age and which can "lead to functional deficits, chronic diseases and pathologies in the longer term. term like cancers ".
Formaldehyde is specifically targeted. It is very present in the everyday environment (insulating foams, lacquers, glues, varnishes, inks, resins, paper, household products, in certain drugs, cosmetics and textiles).
The labeling of construction and decoration materials will be made compulsory from 2011 and the control of buildings welcoming children, reinforced. Those built on polluted sites must be identified by 2013. An experiment to monitor air quality in 300 nurseries and schools will also be launched at the start of the school year.
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