To achieve higher safety standards for baby products, the World Green Organisation (WGO) has started compiling a baby products “whitelist”.
For the three-year project, WGO has developed a three-defence methodology for testing products in different categories. It is starting with baby lotion.
WHO says the project’s objectives are to educate consumers on product safety standards and incentivise manufacturers to raise standards.
Under the three-defence methodology, samples collected from seven retail chains are analysed to measure specific chemicals, such as heavy metals, methanol and formaldehyde. The products then go through an international ingredient check using government regulations from China, Japan, the European Union and the US.
Finally, the products undergo a biological test to measure the level of Estrogen Equivalent Concentration (EEQ) to see if they meet World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.
EEQ affects the human endocrine system and can cause developmental problems for three generations.
Only products that pass the three-step methodology go on the whitelist.
Parents survey
A WGO survey has shown that more than 60 per cent of respondents do not know what ingredients their baby products contain.
Issuing questionnaires to more than 200 Hong Kong parents with children three years or younger, the WGO says more than 80 per cent of respondents indicated they worry about baby product safety. However, only 22 per cent always read ingredients labels, while 61 per cent were not sure what harmful ingredients could be found and 59 per cent did not know the consequences of estrogenic chemicals.
WGO asked 37 parents to identify the whitelist impact. Almost all said they would refer to the list when buying baby products, with 76 per cent saying they will not buy products not on the list.
“Our survey results indicated that Hong Kong parents’ awareness of product safety is insufficient,” says WGO CEO Dr William Yu. “The whitelist aims to empower them to make more informed decisions.  
“In general, while all existing baby products comply with government safety regulations, this higher standard will incentivise manufacturers to only produce items that will not harm the human body or pollute the environment”.