B

Baroness Boycott (CB)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 5 March 2026

Debate

PFAS

Contribution

My Lords, on the whole, on all these bans, we are way behind the EU. I have raised in this House the issue of school uniforms and polyesters being next to the skin, the largest organ in the body. I now ask the Minister to turn her attention to babies’ mattresses. Babies spend 12 to 16 hours a day on a mattress. The PVC covers leach phthalates into the atmosphere and there are fire retardants in the foam, as in most mattresses. These produce effects in babies which include cancers in later life, and there is now a definite understanding that they are hormone disruptors which are leading to lower sperm counts in males all over the world. It is important that we take a precautionary principle here and at least follow the EU all the way.

More from Baroness Boycott (CB)

Other recent Hansard contributions by the same speaker.

About Hansard

Hansard is the official verbatim record of proceedings in the UK Parliament. Every word spoken in the Commons and Lords is recorded and published — this page is a single contribution from that record.

Partner sites