I’ve been thinking lately that we should rename our blog to the Soap Box with all of the preaching about parabens and phthalates and the rest of the oh-my-gosh-that’s-in-my-soap list of chemicals we’ve been reporting on. But alas, I must preach some more (and then Tiff and I’ll write more on our fun trip).

I read some more about triclosan today that has me pretty miffed. Triclosan is a chemical used in antibacterial soaps and handwashes. It is used because it is non-drying to your skin, unlike alcohol which is extremely effective in killing germs but can dry your skin. According to the article, when triclosan mixes with chlorine, which is used in most municipal water treatment system as a disinfectant, it forms chloroform. That’s right, chloroform. Chloroform is considered a potential carcinogen. This is what I found on Wikipedia about chloroform:

“Chloroform once appeared in toothpastes, cough syrups, ointments, and other pharmaceuticals, but it has been banned in consumer products in the United States since 1976.[10] The National Toxicology Program’s eleventh report on carcinogens implicates it as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen, a designation equivalent to International Agency for Research on Cancer class 2A. It has been most readily associated with hepatocellular carcinoma.”

If you look up chloroform on the Governments ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry) website, it has these bullet points about what happens to chloroform when it enters the environment:

*Chloroform evaporates easily into the air.
*Most of the chloroform in air breaks down eventually, but it is a slow process.
*The breakdown products in air include phosgene and hydrogen chloride, which are both toxic.
*It doesn’t stick to soil very well and can travel through soil to groundwater.
*Chloroform dissolves easily in water and some of it may break down to other chemicals.
*Chloroform lasts a long time in groundwater.
*Chloroform doesn’t appear to build up in great amounts in plants and animals.

I’m guessing that if you are inadvertantly creating chloroform when using a product containing triclosan (and mixing with chlorinated water), you are in effect releasing chloroform into the environment. More specifically, you are releasing it into YOUR environment, your home. So, I’m honestly wondering why anyone would choose to use this stuff. But I think the answer is that most of us simply don’t know about it and that is distressing.

According to another article I came upon in Environmental Science & Technology online, scientists at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute tested products (soaps, lotions) containing triclosan and products without it. They found that those products containing triclosan could help increase a person’s exposure to levels above the EPA’s safe limit for chloroform (or trihalomethanes, the class of chemicals chloroform belongs to) in drinking water.

OK, so what does this all mean. We don’t know exactly how the study was performed, and my scientist hubby recommends finding that out before conclusions can be formed. What were the scientific controls? How many products were studied? Was the testing environment similar to that of a real consumer? How much chlorine was in the water that was used to perform the test?

But he is still against the use of antibacterials because of the potential to create antibiotic-resistant bugs (see my previous post here). That is enough reason for me. But if you also consider that we really don’t need to be adding any other chemicals to the environment AND that we have a responsibility to be conscious consumers, you have a very good reason to avoid using triclosan altogether.

The people over at Beyond Pesticides have put together a list of products they’ve found that use triclosan. It’s apparent that this stuff isn’t just in antibacterial soaps, but in many common household items. We haven’t personally looked at the ingredients of each of these items listed, so can’t vouch for the accuracy of the list…however, it reinforces our habit of looking at labels before we buy something.

The following products all contain triclosan. Caveat emptor!

Soaps:
Dial® Liquid Soap
Softsoap® Antibacterial Liquid Hand Soap
Tea Tree Therapy™ Liquid Soap
Provon® Soap
Clearasil® Daily Face Wash
Dermatologica® Skin Purifying Wipes
Clean & Clear Foaming Facial Cleanser
DermaKleen™ Antibacterial Lotion Soap
Naturade Aloe Vera 80® Antibacterial Soap
CVS Antibacterial Soap
pHisoderm Antibacterial Skin Cleanser

Dental Care:
Colgate Total®; Breeze™ Triclosan Mouthwash
Reach® Antibacterial Toothbrush
Janina Diamond Whitening Toothpaste

Cosmetics:
Supre® Café Bronzer™
TotalSkinCare Makeup Kit
Garden Botanika® Powder Foundation
Mavala Lip Base
Jason Natural Cosmetics
Blemish Cover Stick
Movate® Skin Litening Cream HQ
Paul Mitchell Detangler Comb
Revlon ColorStay LipSHINE Lipcolor Plus Gloss
Dazzle

Deodorant:
Old Spice High Endurance Stick Deodorant
Right Guard Sport Deodorant
Queen Helene® Tea Trea Oil Deodorant and Aloe Deodorant
Nature De France Le Stick Natural Stick Deodorant
DeCleor Deodorant Stick
Epoch® Deodorant with Citrisomes
X Air Maximum Strength Deodorant

Other Personal Care Products:
Gillette® Complete Skin Care MultiGel Aerosol Shave Gel
Murad Acne Complex® Kit®
Diabet-x™ Cream
T.Taio™ sponges and wipes
Aveeno Therapeutic Shave Gel

First Aid:
SyDERMA® Skin Protectant plus First Aid Antiseptic
Solarcaine®
First Aid Medicated Spray;
Nexcare™ First Aid
Skin Crack Care
First Aid/Burn Cream
HealWell® Night Splint
11-1X1: Universal Cervical Collar with Microban

Clothes:
Teva® Sandals
Merrell Shoes
Sabatier Chef’s Apron
Dickies Socks
Fruit of the Loom Socks
Biofresh® Socks

Childrens Toys:
Playskool® :
Stack ‘n Scoop Whale
Rockin’ Radio
Hourglass
Sounds Around Driver
Roll ‘n’ Rattle Ball
Animal Sounds Phone
Busy Beads Pal
Pop ‘n’ Spin Top
Lights ‘n’ Surprise Laptop

— Beyond Pesticides

Helpful Articles:
FDA: No Advantage to Antibacterial Soap
Howstuffworks: “Is Antibacterial Soap Any Better?”
PhysOrg: “Plain Soap As Effective As Antibacterial Soap But Without The Risk.”
EST&C: Household Antibacterial Products Generate Chloroform

People have a hard time wrapping their mind around the fact that Johnson’s Baby Products are not as gentle as they thought. But I brought my camera back to Target and snapped a picture of the Baby Cream to post another pictorial highlighting all the unnecessary chemical additives in it. Parabens? Check. Phthalates? Check. Possible carcinogens? Check.

I’ve highlighted in red all the additives that are a high hazard to humans, according to Cosmetic Safety Database. In Johnson’s Baby Cream, these are:

FRAGRANCE.
Ah, our old nemesis. We meet again. Unless otherwise noted, fragrance=phthalates, which are an endocrine disruptor, among other things.

according to the American Academy of Dermatology, fragrance is the number one cause of allergic cosmetic reactions. Phthalates are added to help fragrances last longer, according the American Chemistry Council.

CETEARETH 6.
Otherwise known as 1,4 Dioxane. SafeMama has a great blog as to why this is a no-no in cosmetic products, here:

Dioxane is a known eye and respiratory irritant and is suspected of causing damage to the central nervous system, liver and kidneys. Accidental exposure to people working with it has been known to cause deaths. Dioxane is classified by the IARC as a Group 2B carcinogen: possibly carcinogenic to humans due to the fact that it is a known carcinogen in animals.

BENZALKONIUM CHLORIDE.
Restricted in Japan and Canada, this is linked to immunetoxicity and is a skin allergen.

*****
I’ve highlighted in yellow all the things that are a moderate hazard to humans, according to the Safe Cosmetic Database.

ALL THE THINGS ENDING IN -PARABEN.
So Organic has this to say about parabens:

Parabens are antimicrobials; preservatives used to give products an extended shelf life and to prevent them going bad.

Parabens are everywhere; they are not only used as a preservative in cosmetic products, but also in food. A 1995 study showed that they were present in 99% of leave on cosmetic products, and 77% of rinse off products. (Rastogi et al., 1995 cited in Darbre et al 2004) (1). Parabens are easily absorbed through the skin.

There is debate as to the carcinogenic effects of parabens in humans. Parabens have been found in breast cancer cells, and regardless of if it caused cancer or not, this indicates that they can easily get into skin cells and remain intact for a long period of time. Ash and I limit our exposure as much as possible, and because our Serendipity Bath products are made in the same month they are sold, we do not need or want to extend shelf life.

TETRASODIUM EDTA.
This actually is a low hazard in the database; however, I bumped it up as a moderate hazard because it is a penetration enhancer…it literally piledrives all the other additives deep into your skin. These are not things I really want deep in my skin, or in my baby’s skin either. We shun this ingredient.

****
I’ve highlighted in purple all the things that are Ashley and my pet peeves. Ingredients that we see and cringe at.

MINERAL OIL.

This is a by-product in the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline. It is a substance of relatively low value, and it is produced in very large quantities. Mineral oil is a commonly-found ingredient in baby lotions, cold creams, ointments and low-grade cosmetics as an alternative to more expensive oils.

This is the reason cosmetics can be sold so cheaply. The commercial cosmetic companies use mineral oil as a filler to take the place of other natural, moisturizing, skin friendly oils that we use exclusively in our soaps and other bath products. It’s the difference between eating a piece of fruit versus eating a processed fruit snack.

CETYL/STEARYL ALCOHOL.
These may be animal byproducts, which we stear away from. And, speaking of animals, did you know Johnson & Johnson still tests on animals? Yeah. Nice. No thanks.

RED & YELLOW DYE.
Ash and I personally don’t like to eat this stuff, and we don’t like to put it on our skin either.
****

So, there you have it. Johnson’s Baby Cream is not so good for baby. In fact, a whopping 85% of the baby moisturizers listed on Cosmetic Database have lower hazard concerns than this lotion. 100% of our Wild Child Baby products are better than Johnson’s products, for sure!

Other Helpful Articles:
Clean Up Your Soap! A link to our other blogs about what other things the FDA approves in commercial soaps.

I live with a research scientist in molecular biology and am constantly amazed by the things he knows before the general public does. When all the hype about antibacterial soaps started years ago, his response was downright annoying, but wise. He simply told me not to use it at all if I could help it. His reasoning was that he did not believe that it was truly effective, for one. Now, darn it, a study has shown that he (as always!) is probably right.

I got this information from the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC) Healthehouse website, a great resource for parents. This is what they wrote:

“Antibacterial soaps are no better than plain soap in preventing infectious disease, according to a recent study from Columbia University. Researchers found that there is virtually no difference in the rate of symptoms between those using antibacterial products and those who do not.

The researchers followed 238 Manhattan households with at least one child of preschool age for one year and compared how often occupants had either runny nose, cough, sore throat, fever, vomiting, diarrhea or skin infections like boils or conjunctivitis.

Half the households were given general purpose cleaners, laundry detergents and handwashing soap with antibacterial ingredients, while the other half were given the same items without the antibacterial ingredients. All of the products used were commercially available. None of the participants or the researchers knew which type of product the families had received.

The study concluded that the use of antibacterial products does not reduce the risk for symptoms of infectious diseases among generally healthy people. One likely reason: Many of the symptoms studied are usually caused by viruses, which are not killed by antibacterial ingredients. “

If that weren’t enough reason not to use it, this one definitely is, and an argument my hubby has been making for years. Many scientists feel that antibacterial soaps could be contributing to the growing problem with of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which happens to be an area that he is extremely familiar with as he is working on a MRSA-related study. MRSA is the “killer staph bacteria” or superbug that people used to only contract in hospitals. Now it is being found in schools and other public areas. The chances of contracting it are still low, so don’t call me an alarmist, but there is growing concern in the scientific community about it. My hubby has a job because of it.

The CHEC Healthehouse website, also had this to say (again, this is a direct quote):

“The active ingredient in antibacterial products is often triclosan, which is also used to fight Staph infections that are resistant to multiple antibiotics. Some scientists fear that overuse of and resistance to triclosan could make this Staph more difficult to fight. Another reason to stay clear of antibacterial personal care products: The FDA doesn’t have a policy on antibacterial ingredients in personal care products yet. (Antibacterial ingredients in cleaners are considered pesticides and are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.) Soap and water work perfectly well for loosening dirt and germs so that they can be rinsed away.”

You can see the CHEC’s article here.

from: http://www.checnet.org/healthehouse/education/articles-detail.asp?Main_ID=780

One more thing. Stealing a cue from Soap Chix Tiff I went and checked out some antibacterial products at the grocery store. It is alarming how many are out there! Stay away from Vick’s Early Defense Foaming Hand Sanitizer. It uses triclosan as it’s active ingredient. Triclosan is touted as a great thing because unlike alcohol-based santizers, it does not dry out your skin. (Neither does handmade soap!)

Triclosan is also known as Irgasan and Microban.

You can read more about triclosan here:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol7no3_supp/levy.htm
http://cosmeticdatabase.com

As far as I’m concerned, this is actually one less thing to worry about. Just grab a bar of soap, preferrably handmade by two amazing Soap Chix, and don’t worry that the soap isn’t anti-bacterial. By choosing a bar of soap (again, handmade, of course) you are actually doing a good thing for yourself short-term and long-term.

As The Associated Press documented in a five-month investigation, drinking water provided to at least 41 million people living in 24 major metropolitan areas has tested positive for trace amounts of pharmaceuticals. When water providers find pharmaceuticals in drinking water, they rarely tell the public. When researchers make the same discoveries, they usually don’t identify the cities involved.

Why aren’t we being informed? Because apparently, we the public are prone to freaking out and being unreasonable.

Philadelphia Water Department spokeswoman Laura Copeland said, “It would be irresponsible to communicate to the public about this issue, as doing so would only generate questions that scientific research has not yet answered. We don’t want to create the perception where people would be alarmed.”

(Translation: “You want the truth? YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!”)

So, why are we talking about pharmaceuticals in drinking and runoff water? Because a large portion of contaminants in this water is coming from cosmetics and personal care products like soap, shampoo, body wash, etc. As we’ve written before (here and here) currently the FDA does not regulate the use of phthalates and BPA’s in cosmetic products, even though there is a causal connection showing these chemicals are endocrine disruptors.

Some quotes:

*

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), are groups of emerging drinking water contaminants that have been detected in waters around the world.

*

So, what is the true risk assessment of pharmaceuticals and the like in water? Do they present a health threat to humans and/or wildlife exposed? The truth is, no one knows. Some scientists believe the exposure levels are so low theyﾒre ineffective. Others are concerned about long-term, chronic and combined exposures to agents designed to cause a physiological effect in humans. Many more scientists agree we should be concerned about aquatic ecosystems where sperm levels and spawning patterns in aquatic organisms have been clearly altered in environments heavily polluted with a class of hormone-altering pharmaceuticals known as endocrine disrupters.

*

Along with pharmaceuticals, personal care products also are showing up in water. Generally these chemicals are the active ingredients or preservatives in cosmetics, toiletries or fragrances…Researchers Christian G. Daughton and Thomas A. Ternes reported in the December issue of “Environmental Health Perspectives” that the amount of pharmaceuticals and personal care products entering the environment annually is about equal to the amount of pesticides used each year.

Soapchix Ash experienced this back when she worked cleaning up toxic environments for the government. This was BK (before kids), so a good 8 years ago, and even then she was finding phthalates in the groundwater of very remote places. She is the force behind educating me about these things, and the reason why our Simply Soaps and Wild Child Soaps are chemical, phthalate, and paraben free. (We’re working on changing over our Wildly and Heavenly Soaps, too!)

Ash and I have a more optimistic view of the average public than Laura Copeland or the entire EPA has. Now that there are so many reports indicating that our chemical exposure is increasing exponentially and from places that have been previously unknown (and unregulated), we believe that responsible people will demand accountability and change. We’ve read some great blogs from moms and dads who understand that consumerism comes with a price, and have a great influence on funneling other conscientious buyers towards natural, responsible products. We have networked with people who are dedicated to creating a natural, responsible product. And we are proud to be one of those companies.

Our focus is on getting endocrine disruptors like phthalates, BPA’s, parabens, and other chemicals out of the cosmetic industry by first getting them out of our products. We hope the Senate Hearings that are being demanded by State Representatives will highlight many of our concerns and start the ball rolling with the FDA, EPA, and catch our laws up with those in the EU. In the meantime, we’ll keep making our soap and bath products, happy that the only thing rinsing down the drain is dirt…not endocrine disruptors and other chemicals making their way into our drinking water.

Articles Quoted:
Popular Science: “Tainted Tap Wate r”
Popular Science: “Your Sewer On Drugs”
USA Today: “Cities rarely release water test results”
WCP Online: “Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water Supply”

Inquiring minds want to know…if phthalates, parabens, and other no good chemicals are in Johnson’s & Johnson’s Baby Wash, then what is in my other baby soaps?

I had exactly three things to do tonight…pack up more soap orders, write and post this blog, and brush my teeth. I got the soap orders together even though at precisely the time my kids went to bed I realized that the tingling sensation in my neck and head was the nasty head cold coming to get me like it had gotten my daughter. I’m figuring, using her as an example, by tomorrow I will be cranky, stuffed up, and only wanting to grab people’s hands while whining “I’m COLD! I don’t want a blanket! I don’t want to lie down! I’m COLD!”

I was tempted to bail out on the blogging tonight, but seeing that this was American Idol night, all I could hear in my brain was Simon Cowell saying “These people don’t care if you’re sick! They just want a good show! You can’t give them excuses, just give them a good show!” And so here I am, and here we go with a good show. I mean, what is better than diagramming a picture of a soap label?

I have highlighted all the things that score 4 or higher on the Cosmetics Database list of chemicals that are ‘Moderate’ in toxicity. Some of them you may remember from my ‘What’s in your baby shampoo’ blog. (Anyone? Bueller?)

There’s the dreaded Sodium Laureth Sulfate. Used as a foaming agent, to pump up the lather. If I use anything with this stuff in it, I feel like I’m on fire by the end of the day. Especially when it’s in shampoo…my scalp just burns and burns.

There’s our friend coco-whatever betaine, used to extend the life of a product. So you can buy a bottle of shampoo that’s a year old…isn’t that nice?

And looky there…fragrance is trying to hide by wrapping itself around two lines. Fragrance is the scariest thing on here, believe it or not. Companies like to hide things in there, like phthalates. No fragrance is a good fragrance, unless it specifically says ‘No Phthalates’ on the outside of the bottle.

Sodium EDTA is responsible for piledriving all these things deep into your baby’s skin. No thank you.

Sodium Citrate is a new one, and on the Cosmetic Database it’s the only one that has a ‘mild’ toxic level. I just highlighted it because it irks me…it’s a PH balancer. Well, guess what? If you make a natural soap, then it has a balanced PH level already. And if it doesn’t, you don’t use it. What you don’t do is chemically alter the PH balance after the fact with another chemical. Enough already!

The other, unhighlighted things, are inconsequential to toxicity in different studies, so I left them alone.

I also highlighted the phone number for Suave. I’m thinking that they are rather consumer driven, and would really love it to hear some feedback. Something along the lines of, “Hey! I’m onto you guys! Take that crap out of my child’s soap!”

All things considered, if I were stuck on an island and had to choose between using Johnson’s and Johnson’s Baby Wash and Suave Baby Wash, I would mix up some sand with a little coconut milk and use a nice gentle salt scrub. If that weren’t an option, then I would use the Suave, just because it is lacking something that Johnson’s and Johnson’s has all up in it.

Anyone know what it is? Anyone? Bueller? I’ll give you a gold star if you can tell me what Johnson’s has in it that Suave doesn’t!

The quick and easy answer to your question: “Are parabens and phthalates in my kids shampoo? Are they the same thing, or different? How can I find out, and what’s the big deal anyway?” We’ve been getting lots of emails about this. And, to make this topic less technical, I’m adding pictures.

So. Let’s go!

Parabens are added to soaps and shampoos to act as a preservative. Basically, to give the product a longer shelf life. Their use is widespread and ongoing, due mainly to the fact that they are cheap and have a long history of use. Lately, though, there has been new research that suggests a few problems with using parabens topically. These reports raise the issue that parabens are carcinogens (increasing breast cancer from paraben use in deodorant) and xenoestrogens (an estrogen increaser…obviously a problem if you’re a male).

However, the scientific community remains sure that these concerns are invalid, and parabens are safe to use both in foods and in cosmetics.

Soapchix Ash and her soapdude are both scientists, and they both value a good scientific study as much as the next guy (or, enjoy it more, if the next guy is me.). For us, it comes down to exposure. In small doses, we’re sure the scientific community is right…there is nothing to worry about. But what they haven’t explored is how many parabens we are exposed to in a given day, using food and cosmetics that are chock full of this stuff. Additionally, babies absorb almost 3 times the chemicals in soaps & bath products that adults do. The thought is enough to make Ash and I want to limit our exposure to these as much as possible. So, when we see parabens on a label, we don’t buy it. When we make our Wild Child baby products, we don’t use them.

Phthalates are used in cosmetics mainly to bind the fragrance oils together. So, when looking at a label, don’t look for ‘phthalates’, look instead for ‘fragrance’. Companies guard this little secret with their lives. As we’ve been calling around trying to find fragrances without phthalates we’ve run into a stone wall of silence, with companies saying they don’t disclose that because the information is ‘a trade secret’. We’ve managed to find a supplier of fragrance oils for our Wildly Soap products so that soon, it won’t be a problem for us.

We have outlined the problems of phthalates in baby and bath products here and here and here and here, and we don’t have the energy to outline it all again. But, suffice it to say, if The Soapchix were comic book superheroes, then phthalates would be our super villain. We just don’t like them AT ALL, and don’t think they have a place in any product for kids or adults.

And now, for the promised pictures. Here’s a quick tutorial for what we Soapchix look for on a baby shampoo/bath soap. Parabens are in yellow, and phthalates (in the evil form of fragrances) are in orange. If we see any of these on the labels, we put it back and move on.

I pulled a Dateline and secretly took these pictures at my local Grocery store, since I don’t have this stuff around in my house.

On a particularly stressful day, when your schedule has been blown to bits, and your kids are convinced the house is the Nevada desert and they are nuclear bombs, take a second to funnel your frustration towards the greater good: call or email Johnson’s & Johnson’s, and tell them to take parabens and phthalates OUT of their baby products.

Since we have been writing about the whole phthalate problem, we have received lots of emails from concerned parents about phthalate-free products to use on their babies. It sure seems like the word is out that these dangerous chemicals can be avoided and that is good news.

But there is more good news. There are other ways to prevent exposure to phthalates and other chemicals. The Environmental Work Group provides a great newsletter that contains lots of information on how to become more “green” and how to discern what actually being “green” means. We just got a newsletter from them today with some great advice for avoiding phthalates. The article lists potential sources of the chemical and how to look for it. We have provided a portion of the article here:

“Nail polish: Dibutyl phthalate is often used to make nail polish chip-resistant. Look for it on the ingredients list, where it may be shortened to DBP. Here is a list of nail polishes that do not contain Phthalates, Toluene or Formaldehyde.

Plastics in the kitchen: Take a critical eye to your cupboards. Phthalates may be more likely to leach out of plastic when it’s heated, so avoid cooking or microwaving in plastic.

Vinyl toys: Phthalates are what make vinyl (PVC) toys soft, so don’t give them to children. Opt instead for wooden and other phthalate-free toys, especially during that age when they put everything in their mouths!

Paint: Paints and other hobby products may contain phthalates as solvents, so be sure to use them in a well-ventilated space.

Fragrance: Diethyl phthalate (DEP) is often used as part of the “fragrance” in some products. Since DEP won’t be listed separately, you’re better off choosing personal care products, detergents, and cleansers that don’t have the word “fragrance” on the ingredients list. Like our Simply product line or Wild Child product line. All essential oils, all the time!

Vinyl: Vinyl shows up in a lot of different products; lawn furniture, garden hoses, building materials, and items of clothing (like some raincoats) are often sources. Aside from carefully choosing materials when you’re making purchases, there is one easy change you can make: switch to a non-vinyl shower curtain. That “new shower curtain” smell (you know the one) is a result of chemical off-gassing, and it means your shower curtain is a source of phthalates in your home.

Air Fresheners: New research from the NRDC demonstrates that, just like fragrances in personal care products, most air fresheners contain phthalates. That even goes for the ones labeled “fragrance free.” NRDC suggests that you “open your windows and use fans to circulate air and keep it fresh.” I suspect that NRDC doesn’t have loads of kids and pets running around stashing half eaten food under the coffee table and peeing on their couches like us Soapchix do (why do you mock us, potty training?!). Open windows don’t even begin to cover it. Luckily, all this soapmaking really perks up the general scent, so we’re lucky like that. But for non soapmakers out there, here’s a great article about ‘green(er)’ room fresheners.

Thinking about of all the potential dangers in consumer products, not just phthalates but lead, mercury, and others, it is a bit depressing and overwhelming. But if we really look at it from a consumer standpoint, we have the power to make changes. If we don’t buy this junk, they can’t continue to make it. Believe me, Tiff and I have learned the lesson of supply and demand (Anyone remember Tomato Leaf soap? Anyone? People didn’t buy it, and now we don’t sell it. Simple economics. Well, not really simple. Tiff did almost fail Econ 101 in college, but that’s another blog).

I think that the best part of trying to be a concious consumer is that I am actually consuming less. And I am trying to teach my kids about being conscious consumers, too.

So, what exactly is in your (baby) bath products? What is safe? What isn’t? We’ve been getting lots of emails asking us to shed some light on the February article in ‘Pediatrics’, which cautions parents to avoid phthalates in baby bath products.

This is something Ash and I have studied for the past 3 years, but until recently the general population has had little idea just how unregulated the cosmetic market is. Literally hundreds of chemical compounds can be put into a product labelled ‘natural’ and ‘gentle’. We’ve talked about phthalates here and here and here, but you want more!

Thinking that we might be getting a little boring, I took a picture of some bubble bath I had in my cabinet. Being a soapchix, I usually veer away from commercial bath products, but this was a Disney Princess bottle, and when you walk by a Disney Princess anything with a 3 year old who thinks she is also a Disney Princess, you usually end up with it in the cart. So, I thought I would show visually what to look for and avoid in your bath products…both for baby and for yourself!

The highlighted words are things to AVOID. They are BAD. EVIL. And a source of chemical exposure that just isn’t needed in cosmetics or baby products. Here are some reasons why we have these ingredients on our DO NOT BUY list:

Sodium Laureth Sulfate

Products containing these substances can affect those prone to eczema and other irritants. These chemicals provide a foaming quality to the product, allowing for better distribution of the product while washing hair or skin and while brushing teeth. When rinsed off, the product will have cleaned the area but will have taken moisture from the top layers of skin. In people with sensitive skin (prone to dermatitis, acne, eczema, psoriasis and chemical sensitivity), the drying property of these type of detergents can cause flare-ups of skin conditions or may worsen existing conditions. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration encourages manufacturers to remove this contaminant, it is not currently required by federal law.

Cocamidopropyl_betaine

Some studies indicate it is an allergen. Cocamidopropyl betaine is the active ingredient in Johnson’s Baby wash. CAPB has been claimed to cause allergic reactions in some users, but a controlled pilot study has found that these cases may represent irritant reactions rather than true allergic reactions.

Fragrance

Exposure occurs through skin contact, especially since we apply perfume and beauty products to the skin directly. Contact dermatitis, an allergic reaction in the skin, is on the rise. A 1996 Danish study on perfume and eczema, a kind of dermatitis, concluded that the number of eczema patients with perfume allergy doubled between 1979 and 1989. And, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, fragrance is the number one cause of allergic cosmetic reactions. Phthalates are added to help fragrances last longer, according the American Chemistry Council.

DMDM Hydantoin

Skin contact with this chemical or products that use this chemical may result in an allergic eczema (dermatitis). If you currently have eczema this allergen may be the cause, but it may also be unrelated. Other factors may be related to your condition. This chemical is used as a preservative and its most common skin exposure is with cosmetics and shampoos. This is a formaldehyde-releasing agent.

Red #33
Ash and I avoid dye in general, especially in our food. This aversion has spilled over into our cosmetics choice, too. Red dye, in particular, is linked to so many allergic reactions and hyperactivity (when ingested), that we are just as cautious about it being absorbed into our skin, too.

Disodium EDTA
Ash and my beef with this additive is that it is a penetrating agent, allowing other ingredients in the cosmetic to sink deeper into the skin. Theoretically, if the ingredients are natural and safe, this is a good thing. But do you really want the chemicals on this ingredient list getting deeping into you (and your child’s) skin? So, we are wary of anything with this EDTA, and make sure that the surrounding ingredients are things we want deep into our skin tissue.

The caution at the end is icing on the chemical cake:
*Caution: Excessive use or exposure to bubble bath may cause irritation to skin and urinary tract. Discontinue use if rash, redness, or itching occurs.*

Lots of people ask if we make bubble bath…as of yet, we haven’t been able to formulate one using natural ingredients…it takes a chemical formula to produce a stable liquid that foams & bubbles. We do make something to make bathtime fun for everyone, though! “You Da (Bath) Bomb!” is our answer to everyone who wants a bath full of 100% natural ingredients without phthalates, parabens, or laureth sulfates. They are balls of varying size that fizz in water and release gentle bubbles of sweet almond oil to soften tender skin. Our kids enjoy dropping them into the bath from a high altitude and watching them fizz vigorously. And anything that gets our kids willingly and happily into a bath is a good thing!

So, there you go. Keep the emails coming with questions, because the better that parents can understand the issue of unsafe skin and bath products, the quicker we can get some change going in the cosmetic industry!

First, the bad news: Virtually all commercial Baby Products in the USA with ‘fragrance’ listed on the label HAVE PHTHALATES in them. Even the ones with ‘natural’ on the front label. If you inspect the list of ingredients on the back and see ‘fragrance’, then it most likely contains phthalates as part of the fragrance formula. This means that most top selling commercial products expose kids to these (and other) chemicals that disrupt the endocrine and reproductive systems.

“It shows that phthalates are everywhere in terms of baby shampoo, lotions, all kinds of products from all kinds of different roots all the time. It is also important because it shows that you can absorb phthalates through your skin,” he (Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana) told CTV News.

“It also confirms what we thought: the younger you are the more vulnerable you may be. So a younger infant will have a higher body weight of phthalates after using the same amount of lotion and the same amount of shampoo.

In the United States and Canada, there is no requirement that products be labelled as to their phthalate content.

As well, fragrances are considered a common source of phthalates, yet retail products aren’t required to list the individual ingredients of fragrances.

“Parents may not be able to make informed choices until manufacturers are required to list phthalate contents of products,” the study authors note.“

The FDA has absolutely NO regulations to how many potentially carcinogic chemicals are allowed in cosmetics, which is a huge loophole. This is why the report suggests that:

“If parents want to decrease exposures, then we recommend limiting amount of infant care products used and not to apply lotions or powders unless indicated for a medical reason,” the authors conclude.

NO to Johnson’s Baby Bath.
NO to Suave Kids.
NO to Aveeno Baby.

Surprising, but true.

In spite of the rather depressing news that Ash and I have been spreading about the absolute lack of relevant rules by the FDA to protect ourselves from harmful chemicals and carcinogins, we Soapchix are actually ‘glass is half full’ kind of people.

We think there is great hope for the laws to change, much like they have done in EU countries–which now regulate and ban phthalates from cosmetic products.

And, we have also found a better solution that avoiding bath products for our kids…we made up our own phthalate and chemical free baby bath products. We do not use fragrance oils, preservatives, or chemicals to make our stuff wonderful and lathery…we simply add essential oils to natural oils like palm, coconut, and olive oil. Simple. Natural. Baby friendly…because as moms, that’s what it’s all about.

We recommend our products because we are the ones making them and can assure the quality and natural ingredients.

If you’d like to explore how safe the products you have in your house right now, there is a partial list at Cosmetic Database which ranks baby products according to how many chemicals are in them. It has many, but not all, manufacturers on there and I’ve found it very helpful! It also gives some suggestions for safer baby Shampoos which we don’t offer right now due to our inability to make them all natural.

This is a great time to lead a charge against shady business practices…so if you, dear reader, look forward to a challenge and sticking it to the man, then link over to The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics to find out how to advocate for changing the laws that govern (or, not govern as the case may be) the cosmetic industry. Believe it or not, only one state (California!) has any type of protection on the safety of our skin care products.

This bill faced tough opposition from major cosmetics companies including Mary Kay, Avon, Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Neutrogena, Proctor and Gamble and Johnson and Johnson. Many thanks to everyone who wrote or called in to help make this new law to protect our health a reality!

Helpful Articles:
Baby products may contain harmful chemicals
Science for Sale blog
MSNBC article

Wow. When we wrote our blog yesterday talking about phthalate free baby products, we had no idea that it would jettison our little soapy blog up into the ‘Top WordPress Blog Posts’ of the day. We’ve received a lot of questions about what phthalates are, how to find them, and what products we have that are phthalate free–both for babies and adults.

So…here we go…

According to the Chicago Tribune:

Phthalates are synthetic chemicals found in industrial and common household items, including PVC plastics, cosmetics, personal care products, plastic toys that children love to suck on, vinyl products and products with fragrance.

USA Today highlights a major frustration of finding toxin free products:

Because scents can be considered trade secrets, hundreds of ingredients can be lumped together under the heading of “fragrance.” Some fragrances are made with endocrine-disrupting chemicals called phthalates, several of which are listed as reproductive or developmental toxins by California and have been banned in cosmetics by the European Union.

But they do go on to point out a few red flag ingredients to watch out for:

The Environmental Working Group recommends that consumers adopt a “better safe than sorry” approach. The group says consumers may want to watch out for certain products and ingredients:

•Fragrance, which often is included in ingredient lists as a catch-all term for dozens of chemicals, including phthalates.

•Sunscreens, which may contain estrogen-like chemicals. Houlihan recommends that consumers choose sunscreens made with zinc or titanium, which don’t appear to pose this threat.

•Sodium laurel/laureth sulfate, a surfactant that Houlihan says is often contaminated with the carcinogenic substance 1,4 dioxane.

Greene recommends avoiding plastics with certain recycling codes: #7 may include bisphenol A, and #3 may contain phthalates. Plastics with recycling codes 1, 2 and 5 are safer, he says.

Now, what Soapchix Ashley hasn’t told you all is that, before kids, she used to clean up toxic environments all over the country. I’ve been begging her to share some stories she has of phthalate contamination, but she’s modest and shy and humble and up to this point hasn’t thought anyone would really give a darn. But the amazing response we’ve been getting has hopefully showed her how much interest there is! She is the one that explained to me all the chemicals there are in commercial soaps and cosmetic products. Go ahead and grab your bar of soap and read the ingredients…anything you recognize? No, because all natural ingredients in commercial products are replaced with preservatives and chemicals.

Here’s where it gets fun for us…our soap is natural, toxin free, and environmentally friendly! Our packaging is recycle code 1, which means it’s as safe and friendly as it gets. Just like us!

In particular, here are our totally natural, phthalate free bath products for adults and babies alike!

For Baby:
Wild Child Baby Soaps.
Wild Child Honeybuns Bath Oil. (Seriously…put down the Johnson’s Baby Oil and step away. It’s that bad.)
Whipped Shea Butter.
Bath Bombs Our kids will bathe if it includes anything with the word ‘bomb’ in it. I don’t have the Wild Child scents listed (Ash is the organized one between us) but just click any scent and then comment on what Wild Child scent you want.)

For you:
Simply Soaps
Some of our Wildly Soap line. We’ve marked which ones are essential oil based, but if you have any questions, just ask us at soapchix (at) gmail (dot) com.
Our amazing Sugar Scrub has essential oil scents, as does the Body Bling and Honeybuns Oil. Oh, and the Bath Bombs aren’t just for kids!

We created these products first for ourselves and our kids, so we made sure it met with Ashley’s high standards. (I didn’t have particularly high standards before I met her, except in men and shoes. But that’s another post.)

We do have some products scented with fragrance oils, but from our research we feel like these are an acceptable low level of synthetic ingredient, in a concentration that is much much less than in a commercial product. We also do not bind our fragrance oils to our products with phthalates, lessening the exposure even more.

a handful of helpful articles:
The Chicago Tribune
USA Today
ABC News Report
The Right Start: The Need to Eliminate Toxic Chemicals from Baby Products by Environment California (pdf file)