Call for ban on ‘toxic’ chemical in nappies

Date: 01/06/2000

By Renée Cordes

PRESSURE is mounting on the European Commission to introduce an EU-wide ban on the use of a potentially toxic chemical in babies' nappies.

Austria is leading the campaign for restrictions in the wake of a report by environmental group Greenpeace citing laboratory tests which found traces of the substance in more than a dozen diaper brands sold in Germany.

TBT, an anti-bacterial agent mainly used on the hulls of ships to prevent algae from growing, has been shown to have hormone-disrupting effects in some animals. In humans, the substance has been found to accumulate in the bloodstream and damage immune systems.

The Union has already banned the use of TBT in ships under 25 metres long, although it allowed Sweden and Austria to keep their more restrictive, full-scale prohibition on the use of the substance in all vessels for a set period after they joined the EU in 1995. The International Maritime Organisation is also set to adopt a ban on the use of TBT in ship paint.

However, there are currently no restrictions on the use of the chemical in consumer goods, not least because evidence has only recently been uncovered that manufacturers are using the substance in their products.

Concern about TBT's effect on humans was fuelled earlier this year when traces were discovered in Nike football shirts in Germany. Now, in the wake of the Greenpeace report, environment officials in some countries such as Austria and Germany are pressing for both domestic and Union-wide bans.

Vienna, which argues that children are especially susceptible to the risks posed by TBT, wants an EU embargo on using the chemical in nappies and plans to raise the issue at next month's meeting of Union environment ministers. "TBT has been linked to a whole host of environmental and health damage," said Austrian Environment Minister Wilhelm Molterer. "An all-European measure would be completely appropriate."

Green groups argue TBT should be outlawed in the EU as a precautionary measure, arguing that even the smallest amount of the chemicals in nappies poses a huge health risk. "This is just another example of our lack of knowledge of where these chemicals are being used or where they end up," said Axel Singhofen of Greenpeace International.

But the industry disputes these claims, citing studies by Dutch and Danish health ministry officials showing that diapers are safe. "There are reassuring statements issued by health authorities throughout Europe which put the minute trace levels found by Greenpeace into perspective," said Pierre Wiertz, who is deputy secretary-general of European nappy manufacturers' trade group EDANA.

Commission officials said they were collecting information on the issue, but added that it was too early to say what, if any, action the EU executive would take.

Pressure is mounting on the European Commission to introduce an EU-wide ban on the use of a potentially toxic chemical in babies' nappies.