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Denmark: Ikea to hault worldwide use of EDCs

16 Jan 2012

After massive criticism from the Danish Consumer Council (DCC) IKEA personal care products no longer contain any of the 17 endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), found on the EU list of EDCs allowed in cosmetics and personal care products. The DCC hopes that other manufacturers will follow IKEA.

The DCC is working hard to get EDCs out of consumer products. It is especially these 17 substances, including parabens, which have the attention of the DCC. The Council calls for a ban, because of the endocrine disrupting effects of the substances.

IKEA has repeatedly been criticised by the DCC because their family-friendly Christmas series Snöfall and the entire NJUTA care series included several of the 17 substances.

Previously, IKEA did not want to remove the substances from the products, but now the company has chosen to phase out the 17 substances in their personal care products.

Alternative substances

CSR manager at IKEA, Jonas Engberg, says that as part of the regular product development review, they evaluate their products to see they can be improved.

"Because of this review none of our personal care products contain any of the 17 substances on the Danish Consumer Council's list. We are happy that we managed to find some good alternatives," says Jonas Engberg.

The phase-out applies globally, and will therefore benefit consumers worldwide. However, consumers can still encounter the old products on the shelves at IIKEA, until there are no more old products in stock. IKEA has not recalled the old products.

"We insist that our old products are perfectly acceptable and legitimate," says Jonas Engberg.

IKEA leads the way

"At the DCC we are pleased. IKEA is the first global manufacturer to phase out the substances. It is a right and important decision that IKEA has taken", says Claus Jørgensen, Senior Environmental Officer at the DCC, and continues:
"As a global player, IKEA shows that it is possible to produce cosmetics and personal care products without EDCs. Many consumers are go to IKEA, and they can now buy personal care products without having to worry exposure to EDCs."

The campaign continues

The Danish Consumer Council has already exported the campaign to Poland, Switzerland and most recently Norway, and hopefully the fine achievements of these countries can be used to convince other consumer organizations in other countries to make similar campaigns.

"The pressure from consumers in many countries could help to get the international companies to rethink their strategies and phase out EDCs like IKEA has done. Until now, the big cosmetic companies have not done anything about the EDCs, but if they feel the pressure from consumers around the world, then we have a chance of them changing behavior", says Claus Jørgensen.