A company’s ability to effectively manage environmental risk is under the lens of government authorities and environmental watchdog groups, as well as investors and the general public. We are well aware of the environmental risks associated with our pperations, and are proactive in assessing those risks and taking actions to address them.

The Precautionary Principle serves as our guide in assessing environmental risks. This principle, first outlined in the 1992 UN Rio Declaration, is now a central tenet of sustainable development. In essence, it states that where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.

In consultation with a range of stakeholders, we carefully consider the risks that may arise from current operations as well as from past and future actions. Insufficient risk management can damage a company’s reputation and in worst case its licence to operate, while superior risk management opens the door for new business opportunities.

We have chosen to focus on a number of issues affecting risk exposure that are central to our business. Among them is the growing global concern over pharmaceuticals in the environment. We have learned in recent years that some pharmaceutical products that benefit humankind may put other living species at risk when these products are disposed of in the natural environment. This may be the case for oestrogenic hormones.

Environmental authorities and the media have focused the spotlight recently on reproductive disorders of the males of different species all over the world. The prevailing hypothesis is that the disorders are caused by oestrogen-like substances and not least female sex hormones like oestrogens released from the urine of pregnant women, women using the contraceptive pill, or hormone therapy, and maybe also a vast number of oestrogen-like chemicals.

As a producer of oestrogenic hormone products, and as an environmentally responsible company, Novo Nordisk must consider the potential environmental implications of the use of our hormone products – since the most significant environmental impact is not in the production processes, but during use and disposal.

Our hormone production takes place in Denmark. In compliance with requirements from the environmental authorities, all waste from our production with a significant content of hormones is collected and sent to controlled destruction at Kommunekemi in Nyborg, Denmark. Consequently, the discharge of hormones from our production is negligible.

To gain more knowledge we performed a literature study to investigate the current knowledge of ecotoxic effects of estradiol and its primary metabolite, estrone. Furthermore, in 2002 we conducted a number of ecotoxicological tests of estradiol and estrone according to OECD guidelines. The study showed a significant impact of estradiol and estrone on juvenile male fish, even at low concentrations, while no effect on other test organisms was observed.

In line with our commitment to the ICC Charter to conduct or support research on the environmental impacts associated with our operations, and on the means of minimising such adverse impacts, we will share this information with relevant authorities and interested stakeholders.

Another key issue is the prevention of soil and groundwater pollution. We have programmes for surveillance of all underground storage and waste tanks to monitor their integrity. At our production sites, for example, we systematically control sewers to check that they are intact.

We also recognise that biotechnology, our main technology, may present certain ecological risks. These are discussed in detail in the section ‘Optimising processes’. Our policy is to limit our risk exposure in the use of genetically modified microorganisms (GMMs) to a minimum.

We monitor whether the GMMs emitted under the legally permissible levels have survived outside the production facilities. No viable organisms have ever been identified in the collected samples.