New French study shows baby diapers contain harmful chemicals
Toronto, Jan 31 (IBNS): A new French study, conducted by Anses, which is a French agency in charge of food, environmental, and occupation health and safety, published last week that diapers contain harmful substances including carcinogen, as classified by the World Health Organization (WHO), media reports said.
It was also reported that disposable diapers are one-quarter plastic and undesirable to be in contact of child's bare skin for extended periods,
The agency examined 23 diaper brands between 2016 and 2018 and concluded “a number of hazardous chemicals in disposable nappies that could migrate through urine, for example, and enter into prolonged contact with babies’ skin”, The Guardian reported.
More than 60 chemicals including some banned in Europe for over 15 years and other substances, usually found in cigarette smoke or diesel fumes were found in the diapers by the researchers.
Diaper manufacturers have been given 15 days by the French Ministry of Health to get rid of these chemicals.
Agnès Buzyn, the Health Secretary, reported that although these diapers may not pose immediate health risk to babies wearing disposable diapers, but also not to ignore the concerns and not rule out a risk for children’s health in the long term
It was also reported that extended use of diapers even overheats baby boys’ testicles resulting in low sperm count and also poses problems with potty-training as kids can’t easily feel when they’re wet.
The report recommended the elimination or minimizing the use of named substances in disposable nappies and that parents should consider other alternatives.
The report concluded: “There is no epidemiological research allowing us to prove the health effects linked to the wearing of nappies. That said, dangerous chemical substances have been found in the nappies… At the current time and from what we know at the moment, it is not possible to exclude a health risk linked to the wearing of disposable nappies.”
(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
Image credit: Wikimedia commons
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