Mums are checking their nappies for these 5 things in 2026.

1. No fragrance. It shouldn’t smell like anything.

Some nappies are perfumed on purpose, so the pack smells “fresh” when you open it. Plenty of mums like that smell. Plenty also wonder what it’s doing against their bub’s skin all night.

ANSES (France’s national food and health safety agency) tested 23 nappies. Fragrance was the only thing makers added on purpose that went over its safety limits, and its advice was to stop putting fragrance in nappies altogether.

The two fragrance ingredients it flagged, Lilial and Lyral, have since been banned from cosmetics sold in Europe.

A nappy doesn’t need to smell good. It shouldn’t smell bad. It shouldn’t smell like anything.

2. No chlorine bleaching.

The pulp inside a nappy is bleached to make it white. When that bleaching uses chlorine-based chemicals, it can leave behind tiny traces of something called dioxins, right in the pulp that sits against your bub all night.

Dioxins aren’t an ingredient anyone adds. They’re a by-product, and health agencies keep strict limits on them because of their long-term effects on development and fertility. ANSES found them in nappies over its safety limits, and told makers to bleach with oxygen or hydrogen peroxide instead of chlorine.

“Eco” nappies weren’t off the hook either: ANSES found the same contaminants in eco brands as in the rest.

3. No dye where it touches the skin.

Coloured liners and prints are there for looks. ANSES said so itself: the dyes in nappies serve no technical purpose.

Some dyes are known skin allergens, and a nappy is the worst place for one: warm, wet and rubbing against the skin for hours, which helps whatever is in the fabric get into the skin.

4. No latex or rubber in the leg elastics.

The leg elastics press on the same strip of skin all night. Dermatologists even have a name for a rash that shows up exactly there: “Lucky Luke” dermatitis, after the cowboy’s holsters. The reported cases point to rubber chemicals in the elastic.

If your bub has a latex allergy or eczema, it’s worth checking.

5. No chemical smell when you open the pack.

This one’s different to perfume. You know the one: that strong chemical smell the second you open the pack.

That smell comes from volatile chemicals. When ANSES tested nappies it found ones like toluene and styrene, under its safety limits. A 2023 US study went further: it tested 12 baby nappies and found trace volatile chemicals in every one, and nappies labelled “organic” or “for sensitive skin” weren’t necessarily any lower.

The full no list

No fragrance · No parabens · No latex · No lotions · No chlorine bleaching · No rubber · No alcohol · No phthalates · No VOCs · No dyes against the skin · No PFAS