Johnson & Johnson Refuses to Remove Cancer Causing Chemicals from Baby Products

A letter signed by 50 groups representing about 1.7 million people was sent to William Weldon, the CEO of Johnson & Johnson.

The letter was asking the company to reformulate it’s iconic baby shampoo and other care products to be free of the cancer causing chemicals 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde.  The widespread response it in reaction to a recent study showing many J&J products as containing small amounts of these dangerous chemicals.

The response from Johnson & Johnson response was that they have no immediate plans to take steps toward removing the chemicals and that their are many regulatory agencies in the world that consider the trace levels of these chemicals to be safe.  There are others of course who do not.  The true concern is not that Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo in and of itself has dangerous levels of 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde, but that it in combanation with the many other care products from Johnson & Johnson among other companies eventually will add up to dangerous levels.  The chemicals could be removed from the products at additional cost, as in Japan where regulations prevent the use of chemicals that will create formaldehyde.  J&J products do not contain formaldehyde in Japan.

At the very heart of this ordeal is the fact that although cosmetic care products are obsorbed into our bodies they are not regulated for safety in the United States, a fact that cosmetic companies have lobbied hard to maintain.

Dangerous Chemicals in Common Baby Care Products

Here is some rather startling information put fourth recently by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics report, “No More Toxic Tubs”.

The CSC commissioned an independent laboratory to analyze the contents of 48 products marketing for use by babies for the two cancer-causing chemicals formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane.  The real concern is not neccessarily that one product may contain small amounts of these dangerous chemicals but that many of them would and the small amounts would add up and potentially lead to illness.  Both of these chemicals are known carcinogens and are associated with a number of health problems.  Many countries have laws restricting the use of these chemicals in care products, the United States is not one of those countries.  Formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane are not intenionally added to products.  Formaldahyde is a by-product of many commonly used preservatives.  1,4-dioxane is a by-product of chemical processing and can be removed from the product but manufacturers are not required to do so under current law.  Common ingredients likely to be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane include PEG-100 stearate, sodium laureth sulfate, polyethylene and ceteareth-20.

source: The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics