In mid March the following article was published by the AFP and is an alarming wake-up call for all of us, even more so for parents of babies and very young children.
Chemicals found in kid’s bath products
Dozens of popular children’s bath products marketed in the United States contain two cancer-causing chemicals used to embalm corpses and as glue, a consumer safety watchdog group said in a report published on Friday (6/3/2009). The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics commissioned an independent laboratory to test 48 top-selling children’s products for 1,4-dioxane and 28 of them for formaldehyde.
Used for embalming corpses and, in the United States, as glue in chipboard, formaldehyde is a by-product of a preservative added to the products to prevent bacteria growth and extend their shelf-life. The 1,4-dioxane chemical is used as a foaming agents in some products. Twenty-three of the 28 products tested for the study were shown to contain formaldehyde, and 17 of the 28 contained both formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane. Among those were the highly popular Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, L’Oreal Kids Extra Gentle 2-in-1 shampoo and Pampers Kandoo foaming hand soap, which contained enough formaldehyde to trigger a skin reaction in sensitive people, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said in its report.
According to the US National Cancer Institute, studies of workers exposed to formaldehyde have linked the chemical to cancers of the nasal sinuses, nasopharynx, brain and possibly leukemia. Thirty-two of the 48 products tested, or 67 per cent, contained 1,4-dioxane. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has said even trace amounts of 1,4-dioxane give “cause for concern”, while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Health and Human Services have both identified dioxane as causing cancer in animals and as a “probable human carcinogen”.
“If chemicals are causing cancer in animals, we really shouldn’t be putting them on babies’ heads,” said Stacy Malkan of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
“While the levels found in the products are low, little bits of carcinogens add up in all these products,” she said, adding that the findings of the study gave cause for concern because “children are more vulnerable to the toxic effects of chemicals”.
(March 2009, AFP)
This is enough to scare you off bath time for life!
It has never ceased to amaze me how babies or children’s products have such pungent odors and brilliant colors. Of course this is all very attractive to the child, but put some thought into exactly what is going on to your children’s & baby’s skin. The skin of young babies under the age of 6 months is quite permeable, which means that it will easily absorb whatever is rubbed on in the form of soaps, moisturizers, oils, perfumes and even dyes from colorful clothing or blankets.
It’s no wonder that the Australian Association of aroma-therapists recommends not to put anything on a baby’s skin that you cannot eat. The best oils then to use for your baby would be virgin coconut oil, sweet almond oil, virgin oil (with no scented oils added). Remember that it is wise to skin-test your baby with a little of the nut-based oils to make sure that baby has no allergy before you use it all over his body.
As for soaps, always look for a non-scented, colorless brand and read the label. Make yourself familiar with additive codes. There are plenty of internet sites that have “additive code-cracker” information.
If you would like to make up your own babies or children’s soaps there are some great recipes on http://natural products.suite101.com/article.cfm/homemade_liquid_soap_for_baby (I would suggest that you use Bali Asli or Soap Factory soaps as your base for making baby soap gels).
