Search Results for: Environmental Health⊂mit=Search

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SECURING agreement in principle on the proposed European Union (EU) regulation on restricting the use of certain fluorinated greenhouse gases is a key priority of the new Dutch presidency of the EU. Official documents drawn up by the EU Council of Ministers committee of permanent officials (Coreper) show the Netherlands wants a deal on this legislation at October 14’s environment council.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is resorting to legal action to push the British government into prioritising a law guaranteeing environmental impact assessments on development projects on publicly owned Crown Land. These are generally excluded from UK planning legislation and so not subject to regulations implementing the European Union (EU) environmental impact assessment directive.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
ASTHMA sufferers are 12 times as likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as those who do not have the common lung breathing complaint, according to a new American study. It suggests that asthma and COPD share a “common background” that could lay the groundwork for the far more serious condition.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD’S food standards body, the Codex Alimentarius, has approved an international code of practice on ‘good animal feeding’, establishing a global feed safety system for livestock. It advises on maintaining animal health and reducing environmental problems associated with particular feeds, (such as antibiotics) “in order to minimise risks to the health of consumers.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN INVESTIGATIVE team was sent by the European Commission to the Czech Republic’s Temelin plant, to check for environmental dangers posed by the escape of three cubic metres of water from its cooling system. The Brussels team found all water was retained in a drain; radioactive material had remained inside the building and there had been no worker exposure.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) high-level group on textiles has adopted a series of recommendations to improve the competitiveness of the EU textiles and clothing industry, in the face of increasing competition after import quotas are abolished in the New Year.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE DOMINANCE of fossil fuels in energy production is set to continue for the next 30 years, even growing a little, the European Environment Agency (EEA)’s latest ‘environmental signals’ report has predicted. Despite the European Union’s (EU) efforts to promote renewable energy, it is “not expected to raise its share significantly” of energy production sources, while “nuclear energy is projected to decline”, it predicted.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PVC or polymer materials for roofing generally have a lower environmental impact than using bitumen, because of their comparative lightness, a life cycle assessment on PVC written for the European Commission has claimed. Undertaken by a research consortium led by German consultancy PE Europe GmbH, the review added that for flooring, PVC is less useful in environmental terms, having a bigger impact that linoleum, for instance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE SHARE of nuclear power in the European Union’s (EU) energy source mix has been “projected to decline” over the next 30 years in the European Environment Agency (EEA)’s latest ‘environmental signals’ report. Despite the European Commission’s current enthusiasm for nuclear power, the EEA says that “moratoria and phase-out policies in several countries” will continue, biting into nuclear energy production.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union needs to set firm long term targets for 2020 regarding the development of renewable energy, to cut greenhouse gas emissions and “give energy markets long-term investment security”, the head of the European Environment Agency (EEA) has said.…