Today the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) of the European Commission published a second statement on emerging health and environmental issues. 

The SCHEER statement II on emerging health and environmental issues draws the attention of Commission Services to nine emerging issues in the non-food area that Committee members have identified as having a potential impact on human health and/or the environment in the future. Among the risks identified are the human-computer/robot interfaces, climate change and water pollution, nanotechnology organics, and the chemical risks in a circular economy. There is also considerable interest in how a degraded environment may contribute to the transmission of diseases across species barriers as well as the hydrogen economy and the risks attached.

This second statement also describes the emerging methodological issues of wastewater-based epidemiology and the early detection of risks in general.

The Commission Services will be invited to include these emerging issues in their policies and research agenda.

Background:

According to the Commission Decision C(2015) 5383, the Scientific Committees shall draw the Commission's attention to specific or emerging problems which may pose a potential risk to consumer's safety, public health or the environment. The Scientific Committees review and evaluate relevant scientific data and assess potential risks. The SCHEER Committee provides opinions on questions concerning health, environmental and emerging risks.

For more information:

• Independent scientific committees of the Commission