Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted today (Tuesday, June 27), in favour of pharmaceuticals to be added to the list of European Union (EU) pollutants for the first time in order to “curb” water pollution.
MEPs from the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) voted in support of measures to reduce pollution in groundwater and improve water quality standards.
They also proposed that a “watch list” should be established for substances that pose a significant risk to human health and the environment.
The Environment Committee wants a number of substances to be added to the new watch list as “soon as suitable monitoring methods are identified”.
This includes microplastics, antimicrobial resistant microorganisms and selected antimicrobial resistance genes, as well as possibly sulfates and xanthates.
MEPs have also demanded that the “threshold values” applicable to groundwater be 10 times lower than those for surface water.
They have also called for stricter standards for glyphosate, bisphenol (bisphenol total), atrazine, pharmaceuticals and non-relevant metabolites of pesticides.
Sara Johansson, senior policy officer for Water Pollution Prevention at the European Environmental Bureau said: “The chemical status of Europe’s waters is far from good, but the real scale of water pollution is underestimated.
“MEPs in the ENVI committee today sent a strong message that monitoring, abatement and reporting efforts must be stepped up. We are now waiting for the council to progress on their opinion.”
Following today’s vote, all MEPs will have their say on the update of priority substances and groundwater pollutants in a plenary vote in the European Parliament.
The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe, Surfrider, and Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) are calling on members of the parliament to support the position taken by the ENVI committee.
Manon Rouby, Policy Officer or Legal Adviser at PAN Europe said: “Our groundwater is very vulnerable and slowly but steadily polluted by pesticides and other harmful chemicals.
“So, we welcome the recognition by the ENVI Committee of the European Parliament that the precautionary principle needs to be implemented here.”