Toxic Baby Shampoo?

So the other day I was checking my facebook and saw that someone had posted an article on toxic ingredients in baby shampoo.  Ofcourse this caught my eye since I am a new mom and trying to live a greener life. So I open the link and start reading...

"The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics came out with the news two years ago that Johnson & Johnson’s iconic baby shampoo contained the formaldehyde-releasing preservative quaternium-15, as well as the chemical byproduct 1,4-dioxane. Formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane are known carcinogens. The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported that “the presence of 1,4-dioxane, even as a trace contaminant, is cause for concern,” and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services added formaldehyde to its list of known human carcinogens in June 2011."

WHAT?! I was astonished!  Isn't Johnson & Johnson the "go to" baby product when you think of baby wash and baby lotion and baby oil?  Not only that, but I have been told by more than one person that they swear by Johnson & Johnson and that it is one of the safest brands.  I'm sure these well-meaning people weren't aware that they had been (or still are) washing their baby in "cancer wash".

The article includes a link to a letter sent to J&J from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, along with 40 other organizations urging J&J to remove these products and to live up to consumers expectations of them.

What is frustrating to me is that J&J KNOWS that these ingredents are harmful and these harmful ingredients have been removed from product that is sold in specific countries but is still being used in others (United States, Canada and China) where it hasn't been regulated.

These whole thing greatly upsets me.  I use J&J on Maddox everyday - whether it be baby wash, baby lotion, or baby oil.  And I know some people will read the article and say "well it is only a trace amount" or "I used J&J on my children and they are fine" or even "J&J was used on me and I'm ok".  But are you (they) really?

If you follow this link, it will bring you to a cosmetic database which allows you to lookup the ingredients and hazard levels of difference cosmetics.  Each item you look up with be categorized in one of three levels:

Green (0-2) is a low hazard level.
Orange (3-6) is a moderate hazard level.
Red (7-10) is a high hazard level.

You search your item and right off the bat you'll see if it falls in the green, yellow, or red category and what number it has scored.  Then you can click on the items for more information.

For example: I USED Johnson & Johnson's Baby Head-to-Toe Baby Wash (Original) on Maddox.  It scored a 4. BUT, the Johnson & Johnson's Cucumber Melon Baby Wash scores an 8! It's health concerns are HIGH in regards to Overall Hazard, Developmental & Reproductive Toxicity and MODERATE in it's concern for cancer.

How do I know whether or not my husbands and my infertility issues were caused by any number of products that were "safe" when they really weren't?  How do any of us know if our health issues are related to "safe" shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, etc.? 

The only thing I DON'T like about this site is you don't know if an item has been reformulated since this data was collected and most of the data collected is "limited".  The Cucumber Melon Baby Wash was the 2007 formulation - has it been reformulated since?  Could it actually be scoring lower in 2011? I HOPE so - but I don't think I'm willing to risk it.

First day of blogging...

Well hello everyone!  I've decided to try my hand at blogging.  I want to document my journey in this new life I've found myself in.  Since having my son, my priorities have changed greatly.  I'm trying to live a greener, healthier, more self-sufficient way of life.  And I am determined to have fun doing it!