Paris Appeal Signed at UNESCO Conference

European and North American scientists and medical specialists issued a forceful warning on the threats of chemical pollution during a conference hosted in May 2004 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The

International Declaration on Diseases Due to Chemical Pollution, also called the Paris Appeal, was signed by 80 experts, including two winners of the Nobel Prize for medicine. The appeal recalls a series of relevant international declarations and charters before declaring that: 1) The development of numerous current diseases is a result of the deterioration of the environment; 2) Chemical pollution represents a serious threat to children and to humanity’s survival; and 3) As our own health, that of our children and future generations, is under threat, the human race itself is in serious danger. The appeal calls for banning all known or suspected carcinogens, mutagens, and endocrine disruptors. It also calls for applying the precautionary principle to all persistent, bioaccumulative toxins, and to all chemicals that are very persistent and very bioaccumulative, without waiting for proof of an epidemiological link. To read the entire Paris Appeal (in English) and view a list of its signatories, visit appel.artac.info/anglais.htm.