Toxic Baby Care Products: Choose Natural Shampoos and Creams

Aug 14, 2010
Fleur Hupston

Use Natural Shampoos and Lotions - mbose1_photos

What to avoid when purchasing baby care products, toxic ingredients to beware of when choosing lotions, soaps and powders to safeguard a baby's health.

Many people wrongly assume that more care is put into the manufacture of baby and kids' products, that somehow purer and better ingredients are used for baby shampoos, powders and soaps.

For decades, people have been blindly trusting baby care products, reassured by the clever wording of advertisements. Babies and toddlers soak in bubble baths that contain ingredients such as fragrances, parabens, sodium hydroxide, sodium laureth sylfate and they are washed with shampoos and soaps that contain additional toxins.

Since individuals have become more aware of the dangers of toxic ingredients in baby care products and a public outcry has begun in recent years, many companies have eliminated or reduced the use of chemical ingredients. However, many products have incomplete labelling or continue to sell baby care products manufactured with toxic ingredients. Here's what to watch out for:

List of Toxic Baby Products

Baby Oil: What is baby oil, exactly? Baby oil is 100% mineral oil, which is a petroleum by-product, usually with fragrance added (usually synthetic and also toxic). Baby oil, or mineral oil, coats the skin like plastic wrap and clogs the skin's pores. It is never absorbed properly by the skin and interferes with the skin's ability to eliminate toxins, which promotes disorders, skin function and inhibits cell development. Mineral oils contain hydrocarbons, a real danger to the stomach that can result in death if a child ingests it.

Talcum Powder: Talc makes a baby smell wonderful and feel soft. However, talc is closely related to the potent carcinogen asbestos. It is a mineral, produced by the mining of talc rocks which is then processed. Processing does not separate minute fibres which are very similar to asbestos. Inhaling of talcum powder by babies is toxic to their health.

Lotion: Lotions are basically a mixture of water and oil, with an emulsifier added to keep the product from separating. Mineral oil is a common ingredient in baby lotions. Other harmful ingredients: PEG, TEA, DMDM hydantoin, quaternium-15, parabens, lanolin (unless organic), 1,4-dioxane, fragrance, coal tar colours, ammonia and propylene glycol.

Soap: Baby soaps contain many of the same harmful emulsifiers and ingredients that “adult” soaps contain, namely fragrance, dye, mineral oil, antibacterial chemicals, ammonia, formaldehyde, glycols, phenol, BHA/BHT. Look at the ingredient list when purchasing organic baby soap and stay away from soaps that contain these ingredients. Natural soap is easy to make and today there is a large variety of good organic soap available. Don't be tempted to buy brands of baby soaps that contain toxic ingredients.

Shampoos: Baby shampoos frequently contain harsh detergents, synthetic fragrances and many irritating and carcinogenic compounds. These include sodium lauryl sulfate/sodium laureth sulfate (an irritant which can form carcinogenic nitrosamines) DEA, TEA, and MEA which are hormone disruptors, polyethylene glycol (an irritant), coal tar, (a carcinogen), propylene glycol, (a neurotoxin which can cause dermatitis, liver and kidney damage) and EDTA, (irritant).

Choose a non-toxic shampoo with a neutral pH, and make sure to keep it out of the baby's eyes.

Formaldehyde and 1,4-Dioxane in Baby Products

Formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane are both linked to cancer and skin allergies. The European Union has banned 1,4-dioxane in personal care products, and formaldehyde is banned in Japan and Sweden and restricted in Europe and Canada. However, in other countries, products containing these ingredients are still being sold.

For a full list of brands containing formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane, take a look at the article Carcinogens in Kids Bath Products.

Baby care products can also be toxic if they are labelled "organic" or "natural". Be sure to check labels carefully in order to avoid fake organic products and undertake careful research before making purchases.

Comments

Apr 19, 2011 6:06 AM

Guest :

Great article...and scary! So many toxins...so few alternatives. I would love to learn of some alternatives to the everyday products we use to keep our kids...and ourselves clean. I also always find it interesting that certain things that are allowed on the shelves in our country are banned in other countries. Do these governments care more about their citizens? Our government fights about the cost of healthcare, but as the old addage says, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". Perhaps if the FDA were more strict about what is considered okay for human use and consumption, there would be less disease to deal with on the other end. I remember while spending time in Sweden as a young woman, there were certain "american" treats I could not get because they did not make the cut with Sweden's version of the FDA. Oreo cookies....twizzlers...twinkies....cheetos....and on and on. We must hold companies responsible for the products they promote by utilizing our power as consumers. If its our money they want, then lets not give it to them until they start making products that we feel good about feeding to our children and ourselves.