Frankrike: Leksaker fulla av giftiga ämnen

30 av 66 testade leksaker innehåller farliga ämnen/kemikalier

Den 24 november publicerade det franska nationella institutet för konsumtion, genom sin tidskrift "60 miljoner konsumenter" en rapport med titeln "För mycket gifter under julgranen”. Rapporten handlar om förekomsten av giftiga kemikalier i leksaker som säljs i Frankrike. Testet presenterades av de flesta stora franska media samma dag.


Tidskriftens testcenter har analyserat 66 olika leksaker, slumpmässigt utvalda, för att se om de innehåller potentiellt skadliga kemikalier. De flesta av de utvalda 66 leksakerna kommer med stor sannolikhet att finnas ute i leksaksaffärernas hyllor till Jul. Testerna har gjorts på dockor, mjukisar, plastfigurer, make-up och smink-kits, träleksaker, förklädnadskostymer, o.s.v.

Ämnen/kemikalierna som leksakerna testades för togs från listor över giftiga ämnen svartlistade i EUs förordningar samt i ansedda vetenskapliga studier. De molekyler man letade efter var:
o De sex ftalaterna, varav tre anses reproduktionstoxiska (som kan störa fortplantningen),
o Formaldehyd (klassificeras som cancerframkallande av International Agency on Cancer),
o Azofärgämnen (kan bli cancerogena när molekylerna bryts ned),
o Konservanter som är källor till irritation och allergier, samt
o Tungmetaller som antimon, arsenik, barium, kadmium, krom, bly, kvicksilver och selen.

Resultat: 30 leksaker av 66 visade sig innehålla giftiga ämnen!

Tidskriften pekar ut 30 av de testade 66 leksakerna (plastleksaker, dockor, figurer, dräkter, träleksaker, färger, mjukisar, och inte minst smink och tatueringsfärger) som innehöll farliga kemikalier. Kort sagt, en "trevlig" blandning av farliga ämnen har återfunnits i nästan hälften av de granskade, och även i Sverige förekommande leksakerna.

Mot bakgrund av dessa resultat, har tidskriften "60 miljoner konsumenter" och dess chefredaktör Marie-Jeanne Husset, efterfrågat upprättandet och stärkandet av oberoende testlaboratorier, liksom ett förtydligande av EUs leksaksdirektiv, så att kosmetika och make-up för barn också ska betraktas som leksaker.

Detta stärker vår övertygelse att EUs leksaksdirektiv borde vara skarpare och strängare (enligt tidigare diskussioner på bloggen).
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Flickan som tystade världen

Jag snubblade häromdagen över en video som kallas "The Girl Who Silenced the World" från 1992 där en 12-årig flicka som heter Severn Suzuki tar upp FN: s världstoppmöte i Rio de Janeiro. Severn ger i huvudsak panelen och alla levande vuxna en väl förtjänad risning för att de överlämnar planeten i nuvarande skick, för hennes generation att kämpa med. Hade internet då (1992) varit som idag hade den här videon flugit runt som en löpeld.

Jag tror att alla bör se denna. Bara några dagar före toppmötet i Köpenhamn, är detta mer aktuellt än någonsin. Read more...

Skogen ger friska och smarta barn

Once the vacations are over and school, sports and other free-time activities start, it seems there is never enough time in the day to just get outside with our children. Enjoying the outdoors with children is a fun, healthy way to spend quality family time. I am a firm believer in getting lots of nature time - anything, as long as it includes plenty of fresh air, surrounded by dirt, plants and TREES.

Naturskyddsföreningen has an on-going campaign for preserving small-forests for the well-being of our children. Forests play an important role in the future of our children and our environment but most of all, when children are spending their playtime outside, it fosters creativity and healthy childhood development, while helping prevent childhood obesity, attention deficit disorder and emotional stress. Through this campaign, you can contribute for the preservation of forests.

And in case you need some tips on how to have outdoor green-fun, here it is:

Explore Nearby Nature
No need for a costly outing – explore your backyard, a local playground or beach. Remember that adventures can be made by keeping it simple - jump in mud puddles, catch snowflakes on your tongue, throw leaves in the air or skip rocks on the water.

Have Fun
Go outside and play! Take a break from chores, schedules and to-do lists. Try not to look at it as one more “should”. Just 15-20 minutes outside is often enough to rejuvenate us and push the “reset” button on our hectic lives.

Set Limits on Screen Time
Don’t be afraid to set time limits on TV, video games, computers and cell phones. Likewise, it’s more than okay to require time spent outdoors each day or week. Don’t let the grumbling deter you – the entire family will reap the benefits of unplugging and getting out the door to explore./connecting with nature.

Encourage Unstructured Play
Kids need unstructured playtime outdoors to explore, discover and use nature on their own terms without grown ups giving all the directions and rules. Stand back and watch where their imaginations and creativity take them.

Slow Down, Relax and Enjoy
Make time for “down time” outdoors. Often we forget to just “be here now” – watch the clouds, lie in the grass or lean against a tree trunk. Have children identify a special ‘sit spot’ that they can return to on their own to unwind.

Expand Your Comfort Zone
Stretch your own comfort level with bugs and worms, rain and mud, snow and cold, darkness and the likes. Your kids will pick up on your squeamishness or discomfort. Let them see you relaxed and enjoying yourself outdoors.

Don’t Be Afraid of Not Knowing the Answers
You don't have to know everything about plants and animals to help your children enjoy them; half the fun is asking questions and being curious. Use your sense of wonder to learn and discover together.

Direct your children's attention – and join in their fun
Research shows that children learn more when someone participates in an experience with them. It's as simple as pointing out trees or touching a leaf with your child; encouraging her or him listen for birds, smell the flowers, or feel the wind or soil.

Go outside and play – together!
Twenty years from now, your child may not remember your driving them to every piano lesson or soccer practice. But you can bet they'll remember climbing a tree, making a snow angle or having a mud fight with you!

Share Your Childhood
Teach your kids the games that you grew up playing – the ones that didn’t require lots of equipment but needed lots of creativity or negotiating. Building forts or fairy houses, flashlight tag, kick the can, pick-up soccer, backyard relay races, sardines and the likes.
Bring the Outdoors In
Have a “wonder tray” on permanent display where kids can display all those nature treasures that just have to come inside. Keep magnifying glasses nearby. Have a bird, animal or weather watching station at the family room window with binoculars, field guides and a journal for recording observations.

Bring the Indoors Out
Go outside to do the things you usually do inside – eating meals, reading books, drawing, or painting projects. Bring the “indoor” toys outside and let your kids use them in new ways.

Be Flexible and Spontaneous
It’s hard to stick to a plan when you’re exploring and making discoveries. Be willing to let your kids take the lead, wherever that may be. Their sense of wonder will most likely lead to many “teachable moments”. Keep a blanket and extra clothes in the car, to help take advantage of spontaneous outdoor opportunities – throwing rocks as the ice is breaking, catching a beautiful sunset or finding a new trail.
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Paint4Planet - Children Call for Action

When looking for, and reading about, climate change (and how this can affect future generations) I came accross the initiative "International Children's Painting Competition - Paint for the Planet".

While we may be ready to colonise other planets, children continue to fall prey to climate-related disasters. According to a 2007 environment report from the UK, approximately 175 million children will be affected by natural disasters induced by climate change over the next decade. This is 50 million more than the past 10 years.


Children are hoping that adults might help with the solution to combat climate change. Young artists from around the world have lent their voice to the message through the 'Paint for the Planet' event. Youngsters sent in 200,000 entries to the recent United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)initiative.

On October 25th 2008, a selection of the winning paintings from the collection was auctioned out at the Harvard Club of New York City, to raise emergency funds for children affected by climate-related disasters. A statement from UNEP said that the proceeds would go to Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund. Prior to that, on October 23, an exhibition featuring more of the original artworks from the competition was opened to the world, at the UN headquarters in New York. The event 'Paint for the Planet' consisted of the exhibition and the auction.

After New York, the exhibition has been travelling around the world, with a final stop being the climate change talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009.

Here are some key facts about children and climate change:

More than 46% of the world's population is now younger than 25 years old.

Approximately 175 million children will be affected by natural disasters induced by climate change, over the next decade. This is 50 million more than during the ten years to 2005.

Children are more likely than adults to perish during natural disasters or succumb to malnutrition, injuries or disease in their aftermath. Over 96% of all disaster-related deaths worldwide in recent years have occurred in developing countries.

Women and children account for more than 75% of displaced people following natural disasters. For instance, during the July 2007 floods in Bangladesh, 4.2 million children were affected, 300,000 of them under the age of five.

An estimated 650,000 people, of which 300,000 children, were affected by the back-to-back hurricanes in Haiti in 2008.

Factors that play a role in climate change, such as emissions from vehicles and factories, significantly harm children's health. Deaths from asthma, which is the most common chronic disease among children, are expected to increase by nearly 20% by 2016 unless urgent action is taken. Smoke in the home leads to the deaths of nearly 800,000 children each year.

Nearly 10 million children under the age of five die every year of largely preventable diseases. Malaria – which currently claims the lives of around 800,000 children every year – is sensitive to changes in temperature and rainfall and could become more common if weather patterns change.

In a 6-year study from Peru, researchers found an 8% increase in hospitalizations for diarrhea with every degree centigrade increase above the normal average temperature.

Every child will have safe water in the UK, but only 1 in 3 children in Ethiopia will. By 2020, it is projected that some 75-250 million people in Africa will be exposed to increased water stress due to climate change. Forty-four percent of the continent's population is under the age of fifteen.

Developing countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America are forecast to see reductions in agricultural productivity of between 5 and 25% by 2080s due to climate change. In 2006, 1.6 million children under the age of five required major humanitarian assistance in drought-stricken areas of the Horn of Africa.

The number of children dying each year due to the effects of malnutrition – currently 3.5 million – is likely to increase as a result of climate change.

Climate change could cause an additional 40,000 to 160,000 child deaths per year in South Asia and sub- Saharan Africa through GDP losses alone by 2100.

Climate change can also have a significant impact on a child's ability to attend school. For instance, during the July 2007 floods in Sudan, nearly 200 schools were damaged, affecting nearly 45,000 children.

A survey conducted in 2005 by the UK Government found that 24% of the 1,000 10 to 18 year olds questioned believed climate change presented the greatest threat to the world's future. Read more...