France's national health agency Anses says it has found chemicals in babies' nappies that exceed safety levels.
It has called for rapid action "considering the possible risks these chemicals may pose" to babies.
France's Health Minister Agnès Buzyn said there was "no serious or immediate risk" to babies' health.
"Obviously we should continue putting nappies on our babies. We've been doing that for at least 50 years," she told AFP.
Some 4,000 such nappies might be used in the first three years of a baby's life, Anses said.
Under what it called "realistic use" conditions, it "detected a number of hazardous chemicals in disposable diapers that could migrate through urine, for example, and enter into prolonged contact with babies' skin," the agency said.
Some of the chemicals were added intentionally, "such as perfumes that could cause skin allergies", Anses said.
Glyphosate was also listed in the agency's report, at lower levels.
Marketed under the name Roundup in the US, it is widely used but has been a frequent target for health and environmental campaigners after a World Health Organization study classified it as "probably carcinogenic".
Weedkillers: What do we know about glyphosate?
"Anses recommends eliminating the chemicals found in single-use baby diapers, or reducing them as much as possible," the agency said in a statement.
It is also calling for tougher regulatory measures at an EU level - something which the French government said it was pursuing in the wake of the report.
The umbrella group for makers of French hygiene products, Group'hygiène, released a statement about the report, saying more than three billion nappies were used every year without any adverse health effects. A range of quality and safety controls were already in place, it said.
The group's managing director, Valérie Pouillat, said manufacturers would "co-operate with the authorities to continue to meet the expectations of the consumers".
After the French report was released, Belgian consumer group Test Achats (also known as Test-Aaankoop) released results of its own nappy testing, due to be published next month.
It found that in Belgium, there were some chemical traces, but "no need to worry".
"The differences in results… are probably explained by the fact that the substances researched are not identical, and that the brands of diapers differ from one market to another," it said.