Author Topic: Do your child's bath products contain carcinogens?
-Accident- 
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Subject: Do your child's bath products contain carcinogens?
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2009/03/childrens_bath_products_tainte.html

Children's bath products tainted with probable carcinogens

By Beth Daley, Globe Staff

UPDATE: I've been inundated with requests where to find safer products. Read to the end of the blog for info from Campaign for Safe Cosmetics about that question.

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.

UPDATE: Here is info from Campaign for Safe Cosmetics:

Contrary to industry statements, there are no regulatory standards that limit formaldehyde, 1,4-dioxane or most other toxic chemicals in personal care products sold in the United States. There are signs the U.S. is gearing to catch up, but for now it's up to consumers to consider carefully before they buy. Here's some suggestions for safeguarding your family's health:
Simplify: Select products with fewer ingredients and no synthetic fragrance or dyes, and use fewer products overall.
Choose safety: Search Environmenal Working Group's cosmetic safety database, Skin Deep, to learn more about the products you use and find safer alternatives. Also check out EWG's Safety Guide to Children’s Personal Care Products.
Read labels: Select products for baby and yourself that don't contain the ingredients listed above, which are commonly contaminated with formaldehyde or 1,4-dioxane. (see below)
Take action! Can’t memorize these lists? Nobody can. If harmful contaminants and ingredients weren’t allowed in products, you wouldn’t have to. Tell Congress you want safe cosmetics for babies, adults and everyone in between.
Spread the word: Send an e-card letting friends and family know about this report.

Where These Chemicals Come From
Formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane were not disclosed on product labels because they're contaminants, not ingredients, and therefore are exempt from labeling laws.

Formaldehyde contaminates personal care products when common preservatives release formaldehyde over time in the container. Common ingredients likely to contaminate products with formaldehyde include quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea and diazolidinyl urea.

1,4-dioxane is a byproduct of a chemical processing technique called ethoxylation, in which cosmetic ingredients are processed with ethylene oxide. Manufacturers can easily remove the toxic byproduct, but are not required by law to do so. Common ingredients likely to be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane include PEG-100 stearate, sodium laureth sulfate, polyethylene and ceteareth-20.




yikes, this covers a LOT of stuff.

 

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Darwynnia 
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Subject: Do your child's bath products contain carcinogens?
Formaldehyde is present everywhere in our homes - our furniture, our carpets, our insulation.

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/newsroom/environmental-health/environmental-health/new-report-formaldehyde-from-baby-nursery-furniture-contaminat es-indoor-air

That's a study done on NURSERY furniture that contains formaldehyde.

"A new single-family home furnished with a Child Craft Oak Crib and a Storkcraft Kayla II Changing Table—and no other furniture—would have indoor formaldehyde levels of about 30 parts per billion (ppb) on average throughout the entire house. A unit in a new apartment building would have indoor formaldehyde levels as high as 52 ppb."

That's with *2* items in the ENTIRE house: 30ppb. (100 ppb = 0.1 ppm)

Now, let's consider the REST of the furnishings in the house... they all add up, and that's a constant, daily exposure to airborne formaldehyde. 50 ppb can trigger asthma.

What about your clothes? Most companies treat your clothes with formaldehyde for transit.

http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/article/40502/consumer/formaldehyde

Women's corduroys: 290 parts per million.
A spiderman T-shirt: 1,400 parts per million.
Pyjamas: 3,400.
Kids pants: 16,000 parts per million.
White stain resistant pants: 18,000 parts per million.

1,4-dioxane is a polar ether. It will prefer to bond with the water more than the baby, unless the baby eats the shampoos or tries to huff them.

Don't let the baby swallow the bathwater, don't let him sit in the tub for an hour with an open bottle of baby shampoo. Use sparing amounts and don't turn him into a sudball.

Yes, 1,4-dioxane needs to be removed from baby products but I'd honestly worry more about the indoor air quality in my house first.

 

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Jennifer_the_Great 
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Subject: Do your child's bath products contain carcinogens?
I was reading a book the other day about early medical practices in the United States and googled carbolic. I found this gem of modern manufacturing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenol

My grandmother's not far off in saying that the cancer is in the water.

 

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Darwynnia 
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Subject: Do your child's bath products contain carcinogens?
Jennifer_the_Great posted:
I was reading a book the other day about early medical practices in the United States and googled carbolic. I found this gem of modern manufacturing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenol

My grandmother's not far off in saying that the cancer is in the water.



Phenols have a limited water solubility (log Kow of 1.46), and degrades rather quickly but it can also be oxidized by Iron VI at treatment plants.

BisphenolA (the one everyone's on about in baby bottles) is also found in the linings of canned foods, dental fillings and many other things.

Don't heat your BPA Plastics in the microwave, don't put them in the dishwasher and don't pour bleach in them or any other harsh chemical, and you've minimized the leaching potential (if any).

 

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Varece 
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Subject: Do your child's bath products contain carcinogens?
Everything is bad for you. I'm still alive cancer free, as are my children and their children.

You can't lead a very happy life, if you're stressing over everything you touch or taste. happy

 

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-Accident- 
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Subject: Do your child's bath products contain carcinogens?
Darwynnia posted:
Formaldehyde is present everywhere in our homes - our furniture, our carpets, our insulation.

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/newsroom/environmental-health/environmental-health/new-report-formaldehyde-from-baby-nursery-furniture-contaminat es-indoor-air

That's a study done on NURSERY furniture that contains formaldehyde.

"A new single-family home furnished with a Child Craft Oak Crib and a Storkcraft Kayla II Changing Table—and no other furniture—would have indoor formaldehyde levels of about 30 parts per billion (ppb) on average throughout the entire house. A unit in a new apartment building would have indoor formaldehyde levels as high as 52 ppb."

That's with *2* items in the ENTIRE house: 30ppb. (100 ppb = 0.1 ppm)

Now, let's consider the REST of the furnishings in the house... they all add up, and that's a constant, daily exposure to airborne formaldehyde. 50 ppb can trigger asthma.

What about your clothes? Most companies treat your clothes with formaldehyde for transit.

http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/article/40502/consumer/formaldehyde

Women's corduroys: 290 parts per million.
A spiderman T-shirt: 1,400 parts per million.
Pyjamas: 3,400.
Kids pants: 16,000 parts per million.
White stain resistant pants: 18,000 parts per million.

1,4-dioxane is a polar ether. It will prefer to bond with the water more than the baby, unless the baby eats the shampoos or tries to huff them.

Don't let the baby swallow the bathwater, don't let him sit in the tub for an hour with an open bottle of baby shampoo. Use sparing amounts and don't turn him into a sudball.

Yes, 1,4-dioxane needs to be removed from baby products but I'd honestly worry more about the indoor air quality in my house first.




fair enough, and your point about indoor air quality is well taken.

 

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myxomatosis8 
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Subject: Do your child's bath products contain carcinogens?
Varece posted:
Everything is bad for you. I'm still alive cancer free, as are my children and their children.

You can't lead a very happy life, if you're stressing over everything you touch or taste. happy


I refuse to live in a bubble or make my kids breathe nothing but hepa-filtered air. Life happens. Death is a part of life, and I won't spend every waking moment worrying about minute things that might shorten ours by some minutes here and there.

 

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Varece 
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Subject: Do your child's bath products contain carcinogens?
myxomatosis8 posted:
Varece posted:
Everything is bad for you. I'm still alive cancer free, as are my children and their children.

You can't lead a very happy life, if you're stressing over everything you touch or taste. happy


I refuse to live in a bubble or make my kids breathe nothing but hepa-filtered air. Life happens. Death is a part of life, and I won't spend every waking moment worrying about minute things that might shorten ours by some minutes here and there.


applause

 

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Makaena 
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Subject: Do your child's bath products contain carcinogens?
I wash my son with johnson and johnson bedtime bath and lotion him up with the bedtime lotion.... he's ok.... My daughter who's 3 uses adult shampoo, conditioner and body wash and she's ok too... oh and the cat. well he gets human shampoo from time to time! (its funny when the 3 year old gives him a bath!! he sits there and takes it)

ole Bucky Covington sang a great song here...

We were born to mothers who smoked and drank
Our cribs were covered in lead-based paint
No childproof lids
No seatbelts in cars
Rode bikes with no helmets
and still here we are
Still here we are

We got daddy's belt when we misbehaved
Had three TV channels you got up to change
No video games and no satellite
All we had were friends and they were outside
Playing outside

It was a different life
When we were boys and girls
Not just a different time
It was a different world

School always started the same everyday
the pledge of allegiance, then someone would pray
not every kid made the team when they tried
We got disappointed but that was alright
We turned out alright
It was a different life
When we were boys and girls
Not just a different time
It was a different world

No bottled water
We'd drink from a garden hose
And every Sunday,
All the stores were closed.

It was a different life
When we were boys and girls
Not just a different time
It was a different world

It was a different life
When we were boys and girls
Not just a different time
It was a different world

It was a different world

 

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Eldre'Thalas - Akomo, Acomo, Sangoma
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Varece 
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Subject: Do your child's bath products contain carcinogens?
Paranoia is going to kill your kids!

 

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I am no longer young enough to know everything
Knowledge is Free flag America's Libraries
"You embrace that which defines you"
"If you tell the truth, you don't need a good memory"
We're not perfect...we're parents
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