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Danish baby products are full of dangerous chemicals

Lucie Rychla
June 4th, 2015


This article is more than 9 years old.

Six years since the Environment Ministry recommended reducing the use of materials with dangerous chemicals, the risks are still there

Small children are particularly vulnerable because they suck and chew on things (photo: Pixabay)

A new study by Forbrugerrådet Tænk (the Danish consumer council) reveals that every fifth product used by babies and small children contains chemicals that may cause cancerous tumors and developmental disorders.

READ MORE: Denmark to sue EU Commission over delays on dangerous chemical legislation

The independent consumer organisation examined 327 products in 13 different categories and found 22 percent of them contained dangerous endocrine disruptors.

Thought-provoking and scary findings
Anja Philip, the president of Forbrugerrådet Tænk, called the results “thought-provoking and scary”.

“There are many scientific studies indicating these chemical have endocrine-disrupting effects and thus should not be found in consumer products, especially not in products for babies,” Philip stated.

Babies are particularly vulnerable
In 2009, the Environment Ministry recommended reducing the use of materials containing endocrine disruptors in products for children under the age of two.

Six years later, however, the risks are still there according to the test’s results.

Babies and small children are particularly vulnerable because they often suck and chew on things, so the dangerous substances can be absorbed more easily.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”