Cancer causing chemicals found in children’s personal care products
March 15, 2009
Recently, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, commissioned an independent lab to test 48 children’s personal care products for 1,4-dioxane. 28 of those products were also tested for formaldehyde.
According to the EPA, 1,4-dioxane is a probable human carcinogen and it is included on California’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals known or suspected by the state to cause cancer or birth defects. Formaldehyde is also listed on the Proposition 65 chemical list.
I was dismayed to see my daughter’s favorite cartoon character ( Dora ) on a bottle of bubble bath listed in the report. While a single exposure to these chemicals may not be harmful, children may be repeatedly exposed to these products on a daily basis.
Safe Cosmetics recommends choosing products with fewer ingredients and no synthetic fragrance or dyes, and use fewer products overall. Read the labels and avoid products with any of these ingredients: quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea and diazolidinyl urea, PEG-100 stearate, sodium laureth sulfate, polyethylene and ceteareth-20. A quick way to investigate products further is by researching them in Skin Deep, a cosmetic safety database provided by the EWG. You can find over 42,000 cosmetic or personal care products ( children’s or adult’s ) in the database along with their ingredient list and any known toxins or chemicals in them.
You can take further action by telling Congress to get these ingredients out of products NOW!
In the meantime, check out some of the following companies making safe products: Aubrey Organics, California Baby, Earth Mama Angel Baby and TruKid. SafeMama has compiled a fantastic detailed list of products that you can download for reference. You can find many of these products in the Mommy Goes Green SHOP.
