I consider myself as an informed person and I have been aware of chemicals in personal care products for a while. I have been guided by my angels to systematically reduce the number of chemicals we use and consume on a daily basis. I am making progress, but my house is not completely chemical free yet. At least I have taken action and I am making progress.
Our diet has improved and we try really hard to avoid food with chemicals and preservatives, especially for our baby.
Our baby's first skin care products were of the best selling baby products on the market. I know that shampoo usually contains between 1 and 3 of the "bad" chemicals. I looked on the baby shampoo bottle for the ingredients and guess what? The manufacturer has a clever (or shall I call it sneaky) labeling system where you cannot read the ingredients list before you buy it. You have to use it first to see the ingredients list - the ingredients are on the back of the front label which means that you have to read it through the shampoo from the back, which is impossible.
I finally got the shampoo down to a level where I could read the ingredients list only to discover that the ingredients list was firstly in a very small font (very hard to read) and secondly, the bar code was strategically placed in front of the ingredients list (remember you are looking at the ingredients from the back of the bottle, as the ingredients are listed on the back of the front label of the bottle) and made the horrific discovery that this very popular baby shampoo is basically no different from yours or mine for that matter.
One of the main ingredients were Sodium Laureth Sulfate that is used in industrial cleaning products. Did you know that it may cause improper eye development in infants and young children, impaired hair growth, ulcers and cataracts? I didn't until I did a bit more research on the topic.
Now I feel guilty for exposing my baby to these and other risks associated with some of the chemicals in the baby products.
Needless to say, I threw out all the baby products and replaced it with certified organic products.
Before you buy any baby products, make sure you read the label first - if you cannot find it or cannot see it, it is not worth the risk - even if it is a popular brand. Opt for natural and certified organic products.
In the next few weeks I plan to write a blog with the common ingredients in baby products and the possible side effects of these products.
Please let me know if you have found a really good organic baby product.
I am not the only mum that feels this way and was glad to find another site called "Nature Moms" that also discussed this topic.
Love & Light
Victoria
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Dangerous Chemicals in Popular Baby Products
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
HI there. I am also really concerned about chemicals in baby products. I have extensively research products that are organic from Nature's Gate, Aubrey, Avalon, Dr Brunners, California Baby, etc. But out of all these listed "organic" brands, what are the best??? Can you help me. It's so over-whelming.
I fully understand your predicament. I had the same problem when my little girl was born. The best way to go about it is to look for "certified organic" products. This means that the organic farmers are inspected by authorities to ensure that they are truely organic farmers and that producs and/or ingredients are truely organic.
It took me ages to research the ingredients and you may want to ask health store staff which products are truely organic. If you are unsure about an ingredient, write it down and Google it. That is the best advice I can give you. I am not familiar with the products you have listed, so I am not in a position to give you advice about which one is best. We have different brands here in Australia. I use Baby's Own and Gaia products. Not sure if it is available where you live.
Once you find a safe product, stick to it. We have changed all our personal care products in the house to organic products. There are heaps around that are safe, e.g toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, body wash and deoderant. Toothpaste is also full of chemicals, especially sulphates. The only problem is that organic toothpaste is usually very salty and it is hard to get use to it. I have tried many, but eventually found an organic Read Seal (the brand) toothpaste that is manufactured in New Zealand.
My apologies for taking so long to respond, but I had computer problems for a very long time. Hopefully it is now all over.
Good luck with your search and let me know when you have found a good product. It is always good to know about safe brand names for our children. I can also help you with the research of some ingredients. Just let me know and I will look into it for you.
Victoria
I had a look at my products last night and the Australian products I use are Alchemy, Gaia and Baby Organics. I incorrectly said Baby's Own yesterday.
I just wanted to add a comment about the ingredients of toothpaste again. I forgot to tell you to watch out parabens and sulphates, especialy SLS.
Another common ingredient in all toothpastes is fluoride. Try and buy a toothpaste without it. It is an idustrial chemical. Google it to read more about it and why it is not a good idea to take in huge amounts of this ingredient. My todler tends to eat more toothpaste than actually brushing, therefore it is important to make sure your toothpaste is safe.
Victoria
Post a Comment