Following the “worrying” results of its laboratory test carried out on 68 baby products, the UFC-Que Choisir reveals that one in 6 products still contain endocrine disruptors that are harmful to infants.
The experiment carried out by the association consisted in scrupulously analyzing 68 products specific to babies (play mats, bottles, toys, pacifiers, diapers, etc.), to detect the possible presence of harmful molecules (bisphenols, flame retardants). , phthalates, formamide, formaldehyde, heavy metals …) classified as endocrine disruptors. The association recalls that these chemical substances “are suspected, even in infinitesimal doses, of disturbing or interfering with our hormonal system and of being largely responsible for the increase in disorders and pathologies (infertility, hormone-dependent cancers, diabetes, etc.). She also points out that the WHO recently designated them as “a global threat to human health and the environment”.
And if experience proves that 56 tested objects (or 80%) are completely devoid of endocrine disruptors, 12 products examined cannot say the same. The consumers’ association points out in particular the pacifier “Hello Kitty”, which would contain bisphenol A despite the ban, and “Baby cuddly” changing mats containing a chlorinated flame retardant (TCPP) at a dose 30 times higher than the standard which will be set at the end of 2015. In a press release, the company “Baby cuddly” however indicated that this future standard applied on December 21, 2015 will only concern toys and not childcare articles. According to the UCF-Que Choisir survey, one in six products on average is riddled with harmful substances.
A call to revise the regulations
“These inadmissible results are explained in particular by regulations unsuited to the health issue”, we can read in the press release of the association UFC-Que Choisir. “The authorities only targeted the most risky uses (pacifiers, toys, etc.), while a broader ban was needed to take into account the significant risks posed by other objects present in the immediate environment. the baby (changing mat, floor mat, etc.) which, depending on the case, can be put in the mouth or are in prolonged contact with the skin. “
For the association, the current regulations are largely obsolete. She assures us that “an outright ban should be the rule for all endocrine disruptors », Whatever their dose. It therefore calls on French lawmakers to “adopt without delay much more ambitious regulations on endocrine disruptors, in particular for products intended for children.” “
Read also :
Bisphenol A definitively banned in France
Endocrine disruptors: premature babies are too exposed to phthalates
Bisphenol S is said to be as toxic as bisphenol A
