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A new application developed by the National Institute of Industrial Environment and Risks would make it possible to detect the presence of “substances of extreme concern” on all everyday products, and no longer just cosmetics and foodstuffs.
Shopping with a clear conscience while preserving your health now becomes possible. The National Institute of Industrial Environment and Risks has developed an application, called Scan4Chem, which allows you to target substances of extremely high concern and dangerous contents contained on all your articles, via the barcode.
Scan all of your articles
Applications that allow you to scan a barcode to find out about the composition of a product, like Yuka, are not new. But Scan’Chem has the ambition to identify all the SVHCs (for Substances of Very High Concern) involved in the design of the targeted product.
According to the Ineris website, it can provide you with information on endocrine disruptors, contained in everyday objects such as: clothing, furniture, electronic devices, toys, shoes, sporting goods, DIY tools, household items. decoration, diapers, toothbrushes, dishes or food containers, mattresses… or more complex objects and assembled products such as electrical appliances, automobiles or bicycles.
For even more transparency, the application also allows you to contact the manufacturer of a product if information is missing. And if a product is not yet specified, it is possible to create a manual search by entering the information requested by the application.
Towards an obligation to mention endocrine disruptors
Scan4Chem is part of the wider European project, Life Ask Reach, which aims to reduce exposure to “substances of concern” and raise awareness of consumer purchasing behavior.
What if manufacturers simply didn’t pass on the problematic ingredients? You might ask. Again, hiding substances will become increasingly difficult in the near future.
From April 12, 2024, manufacturers will be obliged to specify the composition of products and the proven, presumed or suspected presence of endocrine disruptors in their products. Three ministerial decrees published on October 12 confirm this decision:
The presence of these chemical substances must be mentioned “as long as their concentration is greater than 0.1% in mass percentage either in the product concerned or in its primary packaging”.
Our consumer choice will only be more enlightened.