ClientEarth’s comment on the EFSA/ECHA guidance document for the identification of EDCs in pesticides and biocides

The EU legislator took a stand to protect people and the environment from the risk posed by endocrine disrupting chemicals when it decided to ban the use of these substances in biocides and pesticides. But the first step to effectively achieve this objective is to identify which substances are EDCs. Now that criteria to identify EDCs have been adopted, ECHA and EFSA are in charge of adopting guidance to harmonise the scientific methods used to identify EDCs. This analysis from CE shows that the guidance needs to be amended; in the current version ECHA and EFSA exceed their mandate and undermine the level of environmental and health protection set by the legislator.