Greenpeace Italy commissioned the laboratory tests on
chemicaladditives in a shopping basket of 12 common consumer items,
includingtoys, T- shirts, DVD players and baby body care products
[1]. The testswere carried out by Dutch laboratory TNO Environment
and Geosciences.
"Some manufacturers add hazardous chemicals to children's
productswithout regard to the fact that the young are most
vulnerable to theireffects," said Helen Perivier, Greenpeace
International toxicscampaigner. "As long as governments fail to
require companies to usesafer substitutes for such chemicals, they
are leaving childrenunprotected from substances that can cause long
term harm," she added.
Many of the chemicals concerned - phthalates, alkylphenols,
organotinsand synthetic musks - can potentially disrupt hormonal
functions, causecancers or birth defects, harm reproduction and
build up or persist inthe environment, food chain and in our bodies
[2].
The problem of harmful chemicals in consumer products is
beingaddressed by the European Union, which is debating a new
chemicalsregulation, known as REACH (Registration, Evaluation and
Authorisationof Chemicals), in an attempt to bring the current
chemical anarchyunder control. But REACH falls short of requiring
companies tosubstitute hazardous chemicals in products with safer
substituteswhenever possible, even though a growing number of
progressive globalcompanies are doing just this.
A Greenpeace report: Safer Chemicals within Reach - Using
theSubstitution Principle to drive Green Chemistry, provides
moreinformation about the availability of safer alternatives and
companiesimplementing substitution policies [3].
Notes to editors
[1] See
'The Chemical Shopping Basket - Chemical Analyses of 12 Consumer
Products' and TNO report
Report by TNO
Environment and Geosciences
[2] Hazardous chemicals are now so widely used in consumer
productsthat they have been found in rainwater, house dust and
human blood. Seelinks to
Greenpeace reports on chemicals out of control
[3] See the
Greenpeace report Chemicals within Reach
Other contacts: Helen Perivier, Toxics Campaigner, Greenpeace International: tel +32 496 127 107Iza Kruszewska, Toxics Campaigner, Greenpeace International: tel +44 7801 212 992