“Our inspectors find consumer goods on the shelves that should never have been for sale,” says Ellen Hambro, Director of the Climate and Pollution Agency (formerly the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority).

New consumer website: The agency has recently uncovered several serious cases of hazardous substances in products for children and adults. The new consumer website has been developed by the Climate and Pollution Agency in collaboration with Nordic Ecolabelling, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, the Norwegian Consumer Council and the environmental organisation Grønn Hverdag. Photo: John Petter Reinertsen.

The body’s chemical cocktail

It is rare that a single product containing hazardous substances makes people ill, even though it has occurred. The main problem is the total impact of the many chemicals that accumulate in our bodies over several years. Children are especially vulnerable to hazardous substances.

How hazardous substances build up in your body

• Animation (Norwegian only)
• Illustration without animation (Norwegian only)

“Adults and children come into contact with chemicals every day. Some of these chemicals are dangerous. We don’t know enough about many of them. What we do know, is that people accumulate a cocktail of chemicals in their bodies,” says Climate and Pollution Agency Director Ellen Hambro.

Environmental authorities and scientists are worried about the long term effects of this cocktail’s effect on people.

Consumer power

The Climate and Pollution Agency is working continuously to prevent hazardous substances and products from reaching the retailers’ shelves. This work requires comprehensive documentation for every single substance, as well as a close working relationship with authorities in other countries.

“Many substances are already banned or strictly regulated. This time-consuming work, and new chemicals are constantly entering world markets. So there will always be substances that are not yet regulated,” says Ellen Hambro.

The Climate and Pollution Agency now wants to mobilise consumers. Retailers and manufacturers listen to their customers. If customers ask for products without dangerous substances and demand documentation of this, the manufacturers and retailers will have to improve their practices.

The right to know what a product contains

It is not easy to know whether common consumer goods contain hazardous substances. Cosmetics and chemical products must have a declaration of contents, but these can be difficult to understand. For goods such as clothing, toys and construction products, there is no such requirement. Norwegian law gives every customer the right to information about whether a product could contain substances that are hazardous to health or the environment.

“You always have the right to environmental information, whether the product is labelled or not. If the retailer cannot answer you straight away, it is legally required to investigate and answer you later,” says Climate and Pollution Agency director Ellen Hambro.

If you want to request environmental information in writing, you will find a ready to use form on Erdetfarlig.no.

Focus on 13 hazardous chemicals

The 13 substances that we are mainly focusing on at Erdetfarlig.no are all on the Norwegian authorities’ list of “priority substances”. The priority list includes about 30 substances and groups of substances. Use and emissions of these should be continuously reduced, with the aim of stopping emissions altogether by 2020. The 13 substances we have chosen are those that are most relevant for consumer products.

These substances are arsenic*, bisphenol A, lead*, brominated flame retardants (TBBPA, HBCDD*, Penta-, octa-, deca-BDE, PBDE), DEHP*, medium-chain chlorinated paraffins, chromium*, mercury, musk xylenes*, nonylphenol/octylphenol and their ethoxylates, PFOS/PFOA, siloxane (D5) and triclosan. *These substances are also on the REACH Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC).

Other substances of concern

There are many other substances of concern. The website also covers other substances that are either relevant for consumer products or substances where we get frequently questions from consumers. Some examples of these are parabenes, phthalates (other than DEHP), dimethyl fumarate, petroleum distillates, nickel and allergenic substances in hair colouring.