Overcoming Plastic Pollution, Paris Gives Antipollution Bags For Babies

Illustration of plastics (Freepik/Freepik)

JAKARTA - The city of Paris plans to provide support for new parents by proposing an anti-polution gift bag program for babies. These gift bags containing environmentally friendly products are part of a new environmental health plan. This step aims to reduce the impact of pollution and introduce cleaner products for infants.

This plan was discussed in a city council meeting on Tuesday, November 19, 2024. The program focuses on strengthening city efforts in dealing with pollution. Some initiatives include more thorough testing in schools to detect dangerous chemicals and heavy metals such as lead. This is to reduce indoor air pollution, as well as form an expert committee to assess environmental health.

Anne-Claire Boux, Deputy Mayor of Paris has been responsible for her public health. He stated that the impact of pollution on public health has become a recognized social problem. It is estimated that about 10 percent of cancer is related to environmental factors. Many scientific studies show that this figure is most likely still relatively low.

One part of this plan is to give a gift bag anti-pollution to new parents. The bag contains equipment such as stainless steel baby cups, wooden toys, reusable cotton wet wipes, and non-toxic cleaning equipment.

The city of Paris hopes to launch this initiative by mid-2025 at a cost of around 500 thousand Euros or IDR 8.3 billion for that year and around 1 million Euros or IDR 17 billion per year later.

This effort is part of a broader strategy to address daily pollutants, such as perfluoroalkil and polyfluoroalkil (PFAS) chemicals, endocrine disruptors, and pesticides. Exposure to compounds such as PFAS, which are often found in cleaning products, cooking utensils, fabrics, and packaging, has been linked to various health problems such as thyroid disorders, fertility problems, and cancer.

"The issue of infertility is not only related to environmental health. There could be other reasons, but discussing insufficiency without mentioning our exposure to pollution, that's useless," said Boux, as reported by VOI from the Euro News page on Thursday, November 21, 2024.

In addition, Paris will also provide 44 protection centers for mothers and babies free from pollutants, as well as train health workers to help people reduce contact with harmful chemicals, such as endocrine disruptors, which affect body hormones.

A similar program is not new in Paris. Many countries offer new products to new parents as an effort to overcome social inequality or as a means of education. The program was first introduced in Finland in 1949, where new parents were given more than 40 items, including blankets, sleeping bags, clothes, personal care items, toys, and books. In Scotland, the baby box contains clothes, books, and toys with the aim of giving the baby's life a start.

The Scottish government reported that during the first three years of this program, from 2017 to 2020, the participation rate reached 93 percent. A study published in 2023 in the journal Lancet Public Health found a relationship between a baby box and a reduction in cigarette smoke exposure and an increase in breastfeeding among young mothers. Researchers argue that smoking reduction could be due to reduced stress or preventive measures made by midwives.

Several other countries, such as Ireland, have also tried similar programs, with a pilot project last year delivering baby packages to 500 families in Ireland.

According to a report from Finnish social insurance agency Kela, which organizes baby boxes, there are about 60 countries that have baby box projects with treatment items. The report suggests that these programs be more sustainable using environmentally friendly products, such as bags in Paris that specifically target this.

However, there is debate over whether this program can change long-term behavior. Finnish reports state that baby boxes may play a more role in short-term behavioral changes or births.