Children's Bath Products Tainted with Cancer-Causing Chemicals

Lack of Regulatory Oversight Allows Toxic Products in Marketplace

In March 2009, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics released a national report called Toxic Tub, which revealed that despite claims like "gentle" and "pure," dozens of top-selling children's bath products contain unregulated cancer-causing chemicals. The report found formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane, both carcinogens, in several popular baby products including Johnson's Baby Shampoo, Sesame Street Bubble Bath, and Huggies Refreshing Cucumber & Green Tea baby wash.

Formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane are known to cause cancer in animals, and are listed as probable human carcinogens by the Environmental Protection Agency. Formaldehyde can also trigger skin rashes in some children.

Most Americans believe that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates cosmetics, but unfortunately, the FDA has almost no authority over the 50 billion dollar industry. In the U.S., these companies operate through "self-regulation," and can use nearly any ingredient in personal care products sold here, with no required safety assessment.

Other nations, however, have stricter standards. Formaldehyde is banned from personal care products in Japan and Sweden. The European Union bans 1,4-dioxane from these products and has recalled any found to contain the chemical.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition founded by Clean Water Action and other organizations, has been working to move the cosmetics industry away from toxic chemicals in products like lotion, deodorant, bubble bath, fragrance and lipstick, as well as working to pass legislation that would empower the FDA to regulate these everyday products. While they have made major strides, there is no shortage of work ahead.

What You Can Do To Limit Your Exposure and Make Change

• Avoid using products that may be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, including ingredients sodium myreth sulfate, PEG compounds and chemicals with "xynol," "ceteareth" and "oleth" in name. Similarly, avoid products that contain formaldehye-releasing preservatives, including quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea and diazolidinyl urea.
• Simplify: Select products with fewer ingredients and no synthetic fragrance or dyes, and use fewer products overall.
• Choose safely: Search Environmental Working Group's cosmetic safety database, Skin Deep, to learn more about the products you use and find safer alternatives.
• 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 products.

Visit Clean Water Action's Campaign for Healthy, Safer Families and Communities for more information.

Sarah Holzgraf
Clean Water Action
(603) 622-8151
sholzgraf@cleanwater.org