France warns of toxic substances found in 23 types of babies' nappies | Progresiv
A variety of potentially toxic substances, including perfumes and the widely-used weed-killer glyphosate, has been found in babies’ diapers in France, according to a study conducted by the French environment agency ANSES. Thus, The French Government has asked baby nappies producers and distributors to remove or to minimize potentially toxic substances used in the fabrication process.
"Following studies carried out on nappies and how they are used, the watchdog has found evidence of several chemical substances at dangerously high levels," the agency said.
But ANSES said however that it found “no epidemiological data that shows any link between effects on health and the wearing of nappies” and did not call for the products to be removed from supermarket shelves.
But the agency’s managing director Gérard Lasfargues said that “risk cannot be excluded… as we observed a breach of the safety threshold for a certain number of substances.”
The government said producers of disposable nappies, which 95 percent of all babies in France wear, and shops must make sure the substances are removed from nappies.
"We call on manufacturers and retailers to take measures within the next 15 days to eliminate these substances from babies' nappies," said a joint statement from the health, environment and finance ministries.
The statement also called on parents to inform themselves about the products used in the nappies.
French babies go through between 3,800 et 4,800 nappies before they are toilet-trained, according to ANSES.
(Source: www.thelocal.fr)
