Search Results for: Environmental health

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FARMERS might fear that the old industrial saying ‘where there’s muck, there’s brass’ may no longer apply to them, but the European Commission is out to prove that crop productivity can be boosted by the filth that can be dumped on land from manufacturing sectors.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A GLOBAL plan to halt the spread of tuberculosis has been launched by a coalition of international groups, including the World Bank and the World Health Organisation; it has already appealed to national governments to pledge substantial funds.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice has cleared the way for German judges to order cosmetics giant Hans Schwarzkopf GmbH to label its hair dyes with health warnings about chemical ingredients that may be harmful to human health.

At present, Schwarzkopf includes these warnings for its Igora Royal range only on an enclosed leaflet, with its outer packaging and tube being printed with the note: “For commercial use only.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A JOINT research project, involving specialists from across the EU, is to examine whether the electromagnetic fields created by mobile telephones is damaging to human health.

The subject is one of none recently identified by the Committee of Senior Officials for Scientific and Technical Research (COST), an EU-managed body that promotes cooperation amongst European scientists.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A CONSULTATION round has been a launched by the so-called G-10 pharmaceuticals group, set up by the European Commission to consider ways of enhancing the industry’s competitiveness, whilst safeguarding patient interests.

Comments have been requested on a paper, which examines issues such as pricing, information to patients, cost-effectiveness, competitiveness, benchmarking, innovation and generics.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE AUSTRALIAN government has issued the most comprehensive formal proposal favouring the liberalisation of the shipping industry yet made in the ongoing World Trade Organisation round on services.

Its paper said: “Significant barriers to trade and investment in maritime transport services still exist in many member economies.…

Keith Nuthall
A STREAMLINED system for removing faulty non-food items from retailers and service providers across the European Union, where goods have been shown to be a risk to consumers, is to be set up, following the agreement of reforms to the EU general product safety directive.…

Keith Nuthall
A SURVEY of Wastes Spread on Land produced by the European Commission has supported moves to improve the quality of sludge produced by the textile industry, through the replacement of chemical products, such as chromium and copper salts, by products with a lower environmental impact.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
MOST governments are keenly concerned about the quality of food their people eat, and quite rightly so. They pass laws to ensure food purity and safety and that’s all very commendable – but it can be overdone.

Regulations can, sometimes deliberately, be drawn up so tightly that they effectively bar the sale of food produced in other countries, thus constituting an impediment to free trade.…

KEITH NUTHALL
BRITISH hauliers may not in future find themselves at such a competitive disadvantage with eastern European competitors regarding the commercial transport of animals, because of a planned updating to a Council of Europe welfare convention.

Its commitments apply to countries both outside and within the European Union, where hauliers already have to comply with expensive rules on trailer standards, journey times, rest periods and the watering and feeding of livestock.…