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Home › Articles › Basic Care › Phthalates in Baby Shampoos and Lotions

Phthalates in Baby Shampoos and Lotions

Do Baby Care Products Do More Harm Than Good?

By Becky Lane

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"In the United States, manufacturers are not required to list the components of fragrance, and just reading the ingredient listing will not clue a parent in on whether that fragrance contains phthalates (and of course, not all fragrances do contain phthalates)," she says.

But, says Dr. Sathyanarayana, it is likely that "a majority of fragrance-containing personal care products contain phthalates. The Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) and Health Care Without Harm (www.noharm.org/us) both have tested several products for phthalate contents."

Parents do have a choice, Dr. Troung says. They can avoid products containing synthetic fragrance, or even contact the manufacturer directly to inquire whether the product in question contains phthalates.

Forest says her family tries to avoid chemicals like phthalates by living as simply as possible. "We do not use many products and what we do use (such as shampoo and detergents) is natural with very few ingredients," she says. "I read labels very carefully (just because a product may claim to be 'natural' does not mean that it doesn't have toxic ingredients). We avoid products with 'fragrance' as this is often a cover-up for phthalates."

Many companies today specialize in organic, all-natural, chemical-free baby care products. Using these products can give even the most wary parent peace of mind.

The Government Weighs In

Government organizations are beginning to weigh in on the issue of phthalate exposure. Both the European Union (EU) and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have concluded that phthalates like DINP (the principal phthalate used in toys) are safe "as the levels used are far below any that could come close to a harmful level," Dr. Troung says.

However, the EU has banned some phthalates (DEHP and DBP) from use in personal care products, including six phthalates from children's products "citing the precautionary principle," Dr. Sathyanarayana says.

As of now, there are no U.S. federal regulations for phthalates. "California does have a ban on six phthalates in toys and child-care articles (teethers, feeding products, etc.)," which will go into effect January 2009, according to Dr. Sathyanarayana. And a cosmetics bill in that same state doesn't ban phthalates but requires manufacturers to disclose some known toxic phthalates in their products. Other states have proposed similar bills, including Maine, New York, Vermont, Maryland, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Award-winning, Phthalate-free Baby Care Product

Love Me Baby Me (www.lovemebabyme.com) has a pure and natural line of children's skin care products that are phthalate-free, paraben-free, wheat and gluten free and use an all natural preservative that is derived from flowers imported from Europe. Learn more here.


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