내분비교란물질(환경호르몬)의 위협과 법적 대응

Abstract

We get up in the morning, wash our hair with ‘shampoo’ and picked vegetables wrapped in ‘pvc wrap’ and take the tuna out of the ‘canned tuna’. Put them in a plastic container and mix them and eat breakfast. And then, after washing dishes with ‘kitchen detergent’, they take out ‘new clothes’ from the closet, get out of the house, buy a cup of Americano at a local coffee shop, and receive a receipt of ‘thermal paper’. Endocrine disruptors are starting from familiar insecticides or pesticides, such as DDT and dioxin, and are now used in kitchen detergents, food additives, food packaging, paints such as inks and paints, Endocrine disruptors such as various plastic products, cosmetics, receipts and thermal paper are deeply rooted in our daily lives. Adequate regulation of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) has become a global challenge and is often referred to as one of the world’s top three environmental problems, along with the ‘destruction of the ozone layer’ and ‘global warming’. Concerns have recently been highlighted for products by the use of polycarbonate materials containing bisphenol A, such as feeding bottle, food container, kitchen container, receipt thermal paper and toys and children’s care products containing phthalate plasticizers. The mechanism of endocrine toxicity caused by endocrine disruptors is unclear, but given the serious toxicity or harm it can cause, it is required to ‘act first’ rather than wait for ‘sufficient evidence’. This is the principle of precaution, and the “REACH Regulation on Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances,” called EU REACH and K-REACH, reflects this principle. In this study, the regulation of endocrine disruptors was divided into ‘regulation of chemicals’ and ‘regulation of products containing chemicals’ and examined the legal responses of Korea, US and EU. As we have seen, in the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which regulates safety for children’s products, California's Prop. 65, which regulates safety for food containers, etc., all focus on risk communication that helps people recognize their risks. In the EU, it is observed that the use limit of phthalates and BPA regulated in the production of baby products is gradually lowering. The limit of the endocrine disrupting substance can not be set as sufficient evidence without sufficient evaluation of the mechanism of toxicity. If serious harm is feared, such as endocrine disruptors, it is more important to determine the limits of an acceptable risk than to find solid evidence.