The National Health Security Agency (Anses) wants to better protect the health of babies and proposes to ban nearly 200 chemical substances from disposable diapers.
- The majority of babies in France wear single-use diapers, which represents around 4,000 diapers used in the first three years of life.
- ANSES suggests establishing thresholds not to be exceeded for a total of 200 products considered dangerous.
- The Agency proposes to strengthen the manufacturing protocols and the control of raw materials.
“Protecting the health of 90% of European children aged zero to three”, this is the stated objective of the National Agency for Health Security (Anses). On December 22, she published a series of proposals aimed at restricting hazardous chemicals in disposable diapers. This proposal falls within the framework of European chemicals regulations (REACH).
A common European level of security
Already in 2019, ANSES expressed concern about the presence of toxic chemicals in disposable baby diapers. The majority of babies in France wear single-use diapers, which represents around 4,000 diapers used in the first three years of life. As a result, toxic substances can migrate into children’s urine and come into prolonged contact with their skin, causing allergies in particular.
This time, ANSES went further and proposed to the European Agency to guarantee a common level of safety for all babies in Europe. Without going so far as simply banning the substances, it suggests establishing thresholds not to be exceeded for a total of 200 products, considered dangerous. Among them, we find polycyclic hydrocarbons, dioxyns, furans, recognized as carcinogenic by the WHO, PCBs or even formaldehyde known for its irritating and carcinogenic effects.
Upstream control
In addition, the Agency proposes to strengthen the manufacturing protocols and the control of raw materials. For that, she asks for tests upstream to ensure that they are not already contaminated. “To ensure that these standards are met, a European-wide analysis process will have to be put in place.”, underlined ANSES. This is also to ensure that the dyes and bleaches chosen are safe.
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