Open Letter

Dear Johnson & Johnson,

You suck. Thanks for including chemicals linked to cancer in products marketed as safe for children. Here are the highlights from a recent Boston Globe blog post:

"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.

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2009/03/childrens_bath_products_tainte.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed1

What can you do?
There's a database you can look up consumer products, and find out if they contain potentially hazardous ingredients:
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/splash.php?URI=%2Findex.php

(excerpted from the Globe posting)
Simplify: Select products with fewer ingredients and no synthetic fragrance or dyes, and use fewer products overall. Choose safety: Search Environmental 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.


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On a separate note... we of course forgot our camera this weekend, so while we try and recreate our weekend from everyone else's photos... it's taking a little longer than usual to get the recap up. But I promise it will be worth it!