Public authorities’ action to protect the population

In France, the impact of chemicals, and endocrine disruptors in particular, on the environment and health is a growing concern. To improve knowledge about endocrine disruptors in order to better protect citizens and the environment from their harmful effects, either by strengthening regulation or by improving prevention, France launched a first National Strategy on Endocrine Disruptors (SNPE) in 2014. The second strategy [1], developed by involving all stakeholders, was launched in 2019 (Figure 1). An integral part of the fourth National Environmental Health Plan (PNSE 4) and placed under the interministerial guidance of the ministries in charge of the environment and health, it structures the government’s vision and action on endocrine disruptors.

These public policies have led to a significant increase in knowledge about the environmental or dietary exposure of the French population to endocrine disruptors through the implementation of large-scale programs. They have also allowed France to propose at the European level measures to ban certain uses of endocrine disruptors such as BPA. The French National Health Security Agency has implemented work to better characterize the danger or dietary exposure to endocrine disruptors; Santé publique France has integrated the measurement of specific monitoring indicators for these substances and has developed actions to inform the population in order to limit their exposure to endocrine disruptors.

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Notes and references

[1] Second national strategy on endocrine disruptors 2019-2022.