Background
The European Commission is committed to achieving the zero-pollution vision for air, water and soil by 2050. The European Green Deal announced bold action points to achieve a toxic-free environment and a circular economy by 2050, going beyond climate neutrality. The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability towards a Toxic-Free Environment aims to better protect humans and the environment from hazardous chemicals. The risk posed by hazardous chemicals is a systemic problem, driven by production and consumption patterns, as well as the lack of environmental monitoring techniques and remediation solutions and the limited availability and quality of the (eco)toxicological data, especially for exposure to mixtures, needed for a comprehensive safety assessment.
The six Horizon 2020 research and innovation action projects in the Green Deal Health Cluster – ALTERNATIVE, LIFESAVER, PANORAMIX, PROMISCES, SCENARIOS and ZeroPM, are firmly aligned with the vision and goals of the Green Deal. The projects are establishing new knowledge to support next-generation risk assessment and regulation, explore the feasibility of new or improved environmental remediation technologies and hazard assessment methods, and demonstrate innovative solutions to protect health, the environment and natural resources from hazardous chemicals including persistent, mobile and toxic substances.
This policy brief has been created for policy makers and provides key findings and recommendations from these projects that are deemed essential to achieve the goal of a zero-pollution Europe