Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo Contains Potential Carcinogens
Published: May 28th, 2009 • Comments: 4
A consumer advocacy group is calling for the removal of known carcinogens from Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo and pushing for new government regulation of hazardous contaminants in all children’s personal care products.
In a recently released report called “No More Toxic Tub”, the nonprofit Campaign for Safe Cosmetics revealed that laboratory tests on some of the most popular infant products, like Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo, proved the presence of potential cancer-causing chemicals.
The tests found that 82 percent contained formaldehyde at levels ranging from 54 to 610 parts per million (ppm), and 67 percent contained 1,4-dioxane at levels ranging from 0.27 to 35 ppm. More than 60 percent of products tested contained both. Johnson and Johnson’s baby shampoo was found to contain 210 ppm of formaldehyde, and low levels of 1,4-dioxane.
According to the Associated Press, Johnson & Johnson says that trace levels of the two chemicals are not listed as ingredients because they are contaminants; byproducts of the processes used to create the shampoo. The company indicates that they have no immediate plans to remove the two chemicals from their products.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition of nonprofit environmental, health, faith, consumer, women’s and worker organizations that works to protect the public by requiring that chemicals linked to serious health concerns be phased out of personal care products and replaced with safer alternatives.
On April 29, 2009, Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced new legislation calling for the FDA to regulate hazardous chemicals in personal care products used by children. The bill would require the FDA to test the products, publicly report the findings and then reduce or eliminate hazardous chemicals.
Although Johnson & Johnson, and many government agencies, consider the trace amounts of chemicals safe, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics says that they have not considered that the personal care products are likely used in conjunction with other products that also contain the contaminants, resulting in a cumulative exposure level that has not yet been measured.
Formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane are both listed by the Environmental Protection Agency as probable carcinogens. Formaldehyde is a preservative, released by a chemical known as Quaternium-15 that is used to kill and prevent the growth of bacteria.
Comment by Ann on 30 May 2009:
I’m glad that reports such as this are bringing to people’s attention the long list of man-made chemicals in care products.
It is even worse that they are in baby products. Toxic chemicals are thought to be a main reason why breast cancer, prostate and testicular cancer have increased many fold in recent years.
Hormone disrupting chemicals are causing reporductive organ problems in baby boys and there are increasing cases of early onset womanhood in little girls as young as six. Also, water companies are no longer able to remove all these chemicals from our drinking water.
Comment by Edie-Marie on 21 November 2009:
What’s wrong with this world?
This is appalling!!! We must work together to STOP this INSANITY!!! Our children are being endangered by EVERYTHING-hazardous toys, the environment,BABY products thought to be SAFE,food, water etc. We CAN”T ALLOW this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Katherine on 1 December 2009:
Since one of the 6 functions of skin is absorption, it turns out that we are what we absorb. Now, we routinely medicate to treat many diseases by using transdermal patches. So, what about the other products that we are putting on our skin? What is the ‘dosing effect’ of common chemicals used in our favorite baby products? It is all about dosing, and we don’t yet know the dosing effect on infants, children or adults. So then, this isn’t JUST about our babies; this is about ALL of us. It especially affects our mothers, sisters and daughters, whose cumulative exposure to many toxins found in our personal care products store in our bodies until our childbearing years, and puts even the unborn at risk! Many are ‘born toxic’.
While logic suggests the complete avoidance of ANY of these toxic chemicals, it would require a complete overhaul of how personal care products are formulated today, which is not cost effective. While the industry does spend millions to promote Pink Ribbon campaigns, give “Gifts with Purchase” and fund research for “The Cure”, they continue to use ‘potentially’ carcinogenic and hormonogenic compounds. Caveat emptor – buyer beware. So, it is up to all consumers to become aware of the risks and leave these toxic products on the shelves. Then, maybe they’ll reformulate without toxins. Some may wonder how this can even be legal.
In 1981 Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act which sought to protect consumers when it imposed toxicity review of any chemicals used in product manufacturing (Health & Beauty and other products). Two little words rendered this law worse than ineffective, and resulted in our long term exposure to thousands of hidden toxins. Those two little words were: “PRIOR TO”. These words “PRIOR TO 1981” exempted 60,000 chemicals on the market from the toxicity review necessary to establish their product safety, including 10,000 used in H&B products. They get a free pass, and now, “Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell” apparently applies to the H&B industry. If consumers don’t ask, they aren’t going to tell about the effects of potentially toxic chemicals. Why? They don’t have to, and so that practically guarantees our exposure.
Consider that since 1981, when the TSCA Law first exempted toxicity review, annual global sales of H&B products have now grown to exceed an estimated $350 Billion dollars and cosmetics sales generate $35 Billion of that. Now, consider our ‘health’ statistics just since that time, including incidents of breast cancer, ADHD, infertility, autism, thyroid malfunction and more. Could there be a link?
The cosmetics industry is the second largest consumer of petroleum products. Even though the technology exists to produce non toxic or ‘green chemistry’ formulations, it is much cheaper to include the untested chemicals. So, most companies prefer to formulate cosmetics and personal care products using untested, often toxic compounds. Therefore, aren’t we all just part of a big chemical experiment? Could it really be Health OR Beauty? Can there really be carcinogens in our baby products? Is any amount safe? Many of these chemicals are dead animal derivatives from the prehistoric and industrial ages, yet we do not fully understand the health impact even though cancer has become the leading cause of death. Perhaps, what you don’t know can, and will hurt you.
You shouldn’t need a PhD. in Chemistry when you purchase baby products, body wash, makeup or skin care – but it would be useful. Do you KNOW the top 10 toxins? Visit notoxinskin dot com. Better yet, for an eye-opening account of what we are all up against, just read Stacy Malkan’s book, “Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Cosmetics Industry”.
Every October the cosmetics industry promotes breast cancer awareness. They raise millions to fund research for “The Cure”. Since we all know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, it just begs the question. Why does almost EVERY product they sell us contain traces of carcinogens? Together, we can and we will change the world of H&B. If you’re interested in being part of the SOLUTION… send me an email at: notoxinskin at gmail dot com.
Comment by Daniela on 1 February 2010:
Buy Arbonne baby products….They are chemical free and botanically based….Be good to your babies