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Hudson_Hawk

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http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2009/03/childrens_bath_products_tainte.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed3



Children''s bath products tainted with probable carcinogens


By Beth Daley, Globe Staff

Dozens of children’s bath products sold across New England are tainted with chemicals the federal government say are likely carcinogens, a new report by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow say.

Despite label claims like “gentle” and “pure”, the bath products can contain formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane that the federal government say “may reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen.” Formaldehyde can also cause skin rashes in children. Lax label laws do not require the chemicals to be listed on product labels. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says that "the presence of 1,4-dioxane, even as a trace contaminant, is cause for concern."

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics commissioned an independent laboratory to test 48 products for 1,4-dioxane; 28 of those products were also tested for formaldehyde. The lab found that:
• 17 out of 28 products tested - 61 percent - contained both formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane; these included Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, Sesame Street Bubble Bath, Grins & Giggles Milk & Honey Baby Wash and Huggies Naturally Refreshing Cucumber & Green Tea Baby Wash.
• 23 out of 28 products - 82 - percent contained formaldehyde at levels ranging from 79 parts per million (ppm) to 610 ppm. Baby Magic Baby Lotion had the highest levels of formaldehyde.
• 32 out of 48 products - 67 - percent contained 1,4-dioxane at levels ranging from 0.27 ppm to 35 ppm. American Girl shower products had the highest levels of 1,4-dioxane.

The study is the first to document the widespread presence of both formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane in bath products for children.

A spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson, Iris Grossman, told USA Today that the company''s products are safe and meet or exceed all regulations.

Formaldehyde is banned from personal care products in Japan and Sweden. The European Union bans 1,4-dioxane from personal care products and has recalled products found to contain the chemical. But unlike many other countries, the U.S. government does not limit formaldehyde, 1,4-dioxane, or most other hazardous substances in personal care products.

"The reality of today''s world is that we, humans, have contaminated our environment and poisoned ourselves. Not intentionally, but due to our industrial ingenuity, our carelessness, and our unwillingness to study and regulate what we expose ourselves and our environment to," said Dr. Sean Palfrey, a pediatrician at Boston Medical Center and former president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Many products tested by the Campaign, including baby shampoo, bubble bath and baby lotion, contained both formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane, as well as other toxic chemicals.


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This kind of news is so frustrating when as a parent you try and do everything right and then you find out that you have products that YOU bought for your child that causes cancer.

Thanks for posting this.
 
This is pretty scary. I use J&J baby shampoo to bathe my dog, and sometimes wash my hair with it. My sister has been using it on my nieces since their birth.

Are there other products that can be used instead?
 
curious about neatfreak''s thoughts on this :)

we''ve all been using J&J products forever..including when us moms were babies and haven''t seen any scary side effects. Still it is not fun to read. I''m guessing if J&J has these offending ingredients, most baby products do.
 
Date: 3/17/2009 9:00:45 AM
Author: janinegirly
curious about neatfreak's thoughts on this :)


we've all been using J&J products forever..including when us moms were babies and haven't seen any scary side effects. Still it is not fun to read. I'm guessing if J&J has these offending ingredients, most baby products do.

LOL. You know how I feel about all these articles I'm sure Janine. While of course it is good to note and carcinogens are something to avoid if possible, I don't think we all need to get crazy up in arms about these things. There are literally thousands of things we encounter in daily life that are carcinogens...it would be impossible to avoid everything in life that is potentially dangerous.

And just because something is potentially **related** to cancer doesn't mean that small exposures to it **cause** cancer. These articles always make me angry because they freak people out over nothing. Should we be aware and try to use other products if possible? Yes. But will our children develop cancer because we used a certain shampoo on them? Extremely unlikely.
 
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