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This study describes the existence of an “environmental health paradox” opposing the strong will of international organizations to the lack of ambition observed within states. Data used in this study have been obtained from interviews conducted among experts of the Swiss, German and Belgian environmental health policies and from survey results provided by the WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe) and its Environmental Health Center in Bonn. Findings show that major obstacles to more ambitious environmental health policies arise from their lack of political recognition at the national level, from their confinement to measures of scientific research and from the absence of any substantial system of indicators capable of correctly assessing environmental health issues and policy outcomes.