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HEALTH

French told to avoid list of ‘toxic’ air-fresheners and essential oils

There are potential risks of using "air purifying" sprays and essential oils around your home, a new study by a leading consumer group has revealed.

French told to avoid list of 'toxic' air-fresheners and essential oils
Photo: Welcomia/Depositphotos
The magazine 60 Million Consumers (60 Millions de Consommateurs) has turned its attention to sprays and oils for the first time – and their findings aren't pretty. 
 
Testers investigated 46 “so-called purifying products” – including ten top-selling sprays with essential oils. 
 
“The verdict is that all of them contained undesirable substances,” Christelle Pangrazzi, the associate editor of the magazine, told the LCI newspaper.
 
Products by La Croix, Fébrèze, and Sanytol were reportedly among those that didn't pass the test. 
 
“Fighting pollutants and allergens in our homes has become a huge marketing tool for manufacturers. But these products don't purify homes like you're be led to believe – rather the opposite.” 
 
The oils and sprays contain Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – organic chemicals that pose risks to people's respiratory system, the magazine found.
 
The substances in the sprays can also trigger asthma attacks, headaches, skin reactions, nausea and can even cause people to gradually become more sensitive to allergens. 
 
Pangrazzi added that the sprays could be particularly harmful for children under the age of three. 
 
And what's more – the sprays can pose potentially lethal dangers for cats.
 
Pangrazzi recommended that instead of using sprays, people should try to air out their house for 30 minutes a day (in off-peak hours in big cities) and to regularly clean the home. 
 
“There's no reason to use synthetic products, it's just a waste of money,” she said. 
 
The full details of the study – including the names of the products tested – will be available in the April/May edition of the magazine. 
 
The same magazine has, over the last year, warned people off most nappies sold in France and organic panty liners that contain weedkiller

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HEALTH

Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

Danish Minister for the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde has warned that, despite increasing activity at hospitals, it will be some time before current waiting lists are reduced.

Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

The message comes as Løhde was set to meet with officials from regional health authorities on Wednesday to discuss the progress of an acute plan for the Danish health system, launched at the end of last year in an effort to reduce a backlog of waiting times which built up during the coronavirus crisis.

An agreement with regional health authorities on an “acute” spending plan to address the most serious challenges faced by the health services agreed in February, providing 2 billion kroner by the end of 2024.

READ ALSO: What exactly is wrong with the Danish health system?

The national organisation for the health authorities, Danske Regioner, said to newspaper Jyllands-Posten earlier this week that progress on clearing the waiting lists was ahead of schedule.

Some 245,300 operations were completed in the first quarter of this year, 10 percent more than in the same period in 2022 and over the agreed number.

Løhde said that the figures show measures from the acute plan are “beginning to work”.

“It’s positive but even though it suggests that the trend is going the right way, we’re far from our goal and it’s important to keep it up so that we get there,” she said.

“I certainly won’t be satisfied until waiting times are brought down,” she said.

“As long as we are in the process of doing postponed operations, we will unfortunately continue to see a further increase [in waiting times],” Løhde said.

“That’s why it’s crucial that we retain a high activity this year and in 2024,” she added.

Although the government set aside 2 billion kroner in total for the plan, the regional authorities expect the portion of that to be spent in 2023 to run out by the end of the summer. They have therefore asked for some of the 2024 spending to be brought forward.

Løhde is so far reluctant to meet that request according to Jyllands-Posten.

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