Toxic as a Baby's Bottom

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Lotioned-up babies have high phthalate levels, says study

Posted at 9:58 AM on 04 Feb 2008

Photo: iStockphoto

Ways to poison your kids: It's not just bottles, car seats, and toys anymore! Tots exposed to baby cosmetics -- lotions, shampoos, powders, and the like -- have high levels of toxic phthalates in their wee bodies, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics. Lotion exposure led to the highest phthalate concentrations in infant urine; use of baby wipes and diaper creams was not found to affect kids' inner phthalate levels. Manufacturers are not required to list phthalates, which have been linked to reproductive disorders and fertility problems, as ingredients on cosmetics labels. The infant personal care industry, unsurprisingly, disputed the study's conclusions.

sources: Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post
see also, in Grist: A special series on parenting and health

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Comments: (4 comments)

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easy ways to weed out our toxic products

I'm part of a group called Going Green Family and this month our focus is looking at the toxic personal products we're using and gradually weeding them out over the next month.

We're finding that a great place to start is to sit down with a few of your favorite products and log on to Skin Deep (http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/), a searchable database that tells you about the ingredients in your product, and suggests healthier alternatives. Next time you go shopping, you can buy a much healthier alternative.

by kcostello at 2:19 PM on 04 Feb 2008

This Could Be A Good Thing

If human babies were not contaminated by phthalates, the chemicals would be left to poison the rest of the planet because hardly anyone would care. Now parental self-centeredness can be used to reduce or eliminate this crap.

by Wolverine at 4:32 PM on 04 Feb 2008

Make your own

I know it's not for everyone, but it's pretty easy to make your own. Calendula salve, which is great for baby bottoms, uses calendula flowers, some nice oil (olive, sunflower, almond, etc.) and a bit of beeswax. That's it.

by SMLowry at 4:33 PM on 04 Feb 2008

One more thing to worry about...

Wow, it seems like the toxic ingredients we let our kids play with, eat, etc. just keep growing and growing. What is wrong with our society that this has been okay for so long?

Is it the lotions and shampoos themselves that contain the phthalates? Or is it leaking from the plastic packaging? Why in the world would these products benefit from the phthalates?

I love the Cosmetics Safety Database, it has helped me make decisions on what products to buy many times.

Brenna

by brenna at 5:31 PM on 04 Feb 2008

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