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(2004/C 65 E/149)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2333/03

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(16 July 2003)

Subject:   Prevalence of birth defects near crematoriums

According to a study recently published by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, the risk of congenital abnormalities and stillbirths is greater if the mother lives near a crematorium or incineration plant. British scientists studied 245 000 births in Cumbria between 1956 and 1993. The study revealed that the risk of abnormalities of the spinal cord (particularly spina bifida) was 17 % higher in the case of women who had spent their pregnancy in the vicinity of a crematorium. There was also a significant increase in the probability of their babies' suffering from heart defects.

Is the Commission aware of the increased risks run by babies whose mothers live near crematoriums?

Has the Commission already taken action to reduce these risks, or what proposals to this end are planned?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(11 September 2003)

The Commission is not aware of the results of the epidemiological study conducted by the Newcastle-upon-Tyne University.

Regulatory provisions to prevent adverse health effects from waste incineration plants do exist at European level under the framework of Directives 89/429/EEC, 89/369/EEC, 94/67/EC and 2000/76/EC (1). Some Community initiatives have already been taken in the field.

Under the Decision No 1296/99 EC of the Council and the Parliament of 29 April 1999 adopting a programme of Community action on pollution-related diseases in the context of the framework for action in the field of public health 1999-2001 (2), a project presented by the Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, entitled European Health Information System for Exposure and Diseases Mapping and Risk Assessment (Euroheis), was granted funding. It aims at improving health information and analysis in order to assess relationships between environmental pollution and disease, and to respond to health threats by improving knowledge and understanding of risk management. Health effects of waste incinerators was one of the scenario tested without having highlighted any direct causality links but, rather, pointing out the multifactorial aspect of such neonatal malformations, including the important role of socio-economic factors in their appearance.

The World Health Organisation/European Environment Agency (WHO/EEA) Publication on ‘Children's health and environment: a review of evidence’ (2002) states that'... few environmental exposures have been documented so far as very likely causal factors for birth defects. Many obstacles such as multicausality hamper research in this field and many published studies suffer from limitations in design and bias problems.'

To date there is no conclusive scientific evidence of a causal relationship between birth defects and living in the vicinity of crematoria. As a matter of fact, it is often not possible to establish a clear causal link between adverse health effects and environmental factors.

On 11 June 2003 the Commission adopted the ‘Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee on a European Environment and Health Strategy’ (3).

This strategy aims to achieve a better understanding of the environmental threats to human health to identify the disease burden caused by environmental factors in the Union and to plan policy responses to the challenges that emerge.

The objectives of the proposed strategy are:

The ultimate goal of the proposed strategy is to develop an environment and health ‘cause-effect framework’ that will provide the necessary information for the development of Community policy dealing with sources and the impact pathway of health stressors. To achieve this goal an integrated approach is needed. For further details on the Strategy, the Honourable Member is referred to the following website address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/health/index_en.htm

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(1)  Council Directive 89/429/EEC of 21 June 1989 on the reduction of air pollution from existing municipal waste-incineration plants, OJ L 203, 15.7.1989Council Directive 89/369/EEC of 8 June 1989 on the prevention of air pollution from new municipal waste incineration plants, OJ L 163, 14.6.1989Council Directive 94/67/EC of 16 December 1994 on the incineration of hazardous waste, OJ L 365, 31.12.1994Directive 2000/76/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 4 December 2000 on the incineration of waste, OJ L 332, 28.12.2000.

(2)OJ L 155, 22.6.1999.

(3)  COM(2003) 338 final.

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