I was one of the kids who grew up in the 80’s and Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo was a staple in our house. Remember this old ad?
So it’s scary to see this report from Forbes that calls the company out for removing chemicals of concern in its iconic baby shampoo in some countries, but not others.
The product currently on shelves in the United States, Canada, and China still contains known carcinogens such as formaldehyde-releasing preservative quaternium-15, as well as the chemical byproduct 1,4-dioxane.
Formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane are known carcinogens. The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported that “the presence of 1,4-dioxane, even as a trace contaminant, is cause for concern,” and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services added formaldehyde to its list of known human carcinogens in June 2011.
Great. So people are washing their babies’ hair and slathering moisturisers on their brand new baby skin with products that contain known carcinogens – how is this okay?!
In their defense, On November 16th, they did announced that they would remove quaternium-15 and other formaldehyde-releasing preservatives from all of its baby products worldwide within two years, and reduce 1,4 dioxane in all of its baby products to less than 4 parts per million. Long term, the company indicated it will replace the chemical process, called ethoxylation, that results in 1,4 dioxane contamination. Johnson & Johnson also announced that it has removed phthalates from all of its baby products worldwide. (This doesn’t include their non-baby products though, like Neutrogena and Aveeno lines).
But still, TWO years to remove all these chemicals? That seems an awfully long time when consumers are demanding they be removed yesterday!
Were you a Johnson & Johnson’s baby? Would you use these products on your child?
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Image credit: Mommy-ish.com
