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Smart discussion of the latest science and news on toxins in your food, water, and air, and what government agencies should be doing to protect public health. Written by EWG staff.
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« Chat with the experts about toxics in kids' bath products | Main | Toxic personal care products for children cont. »
So what products CAN we use?
Every time a report is released that reveals toxics in our consumer products, it's only natural to wonder what you can buy once you've learned what you can't.
In last week's Toxic Tub report, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics cautioned us that 61% of the kids' bath products they tested contained both formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane - both probable carcinogens. Guess I know what not to buy.
Which brings me to a very important question: what can I buy if I want safe bath products for my kids? Good question for our Skin Deep database, which has a useful, easy-to-use Parents Buying Guide. This safety guide to children's personal care products includes better and best picks in nine products:
- Shampoo and conditioner
- Body wash and liquid soap
- Toothpaste
- Sunscreen
- Babywipes
- Lotion and moisturizer
- Diaper cream
- Baby powder
- Play make-up
Get the guide.
You can download a 1-page summary on our For Parents resource page, or you can make it interactive and head straight to the Parents Buying Guide on Skin Deep. Either way, you'll be on your way to finding safer products for your kids.
What about those products I already have?
Our Skin Deep database can help with that, too. Simply enter your product and assess its hazard rating - remembering that most ingredients are untested (ugh), so there is often a data gap that leaves a lot of unknowns. But understanding that a high hazard score definitely does contain ingredients to avoid and a low hazard score with a low data gap likely is safer because it contains fewer toxic chemicals and few unknowns.
More great Skin Deep tools.
Another excellent feature of Skin Deep is that if your specific product isn't included, you can add it by entering its ingredient information once you have signed up as a user. And finally, there's a terrific FAQ page in Skin Deep that can really help you navigate the database easily and successfully.
« Chat with the experts about toxics in kids' bath products |
Isn't it so sad that in this day and age, we need to refer to lists of thumbs up/thumbs down items in order to prevent our families from getting slowly poisoned with chemicals. Nothing can be left to common sense anymore...and it's a wonder that parents can ever get a sound night of sleep with all the concerns floating out there. Your better and best list reminds me of the list of the most notorious pesticide-contaminated fruits and vegetables released by the Environmental working group. All of this nonsense would seize to exist if food and consumer products were produced exclusively using organic methods. Instead, our addiction to chemicals and higher yields has unleashed an environmental and health-compromising monster.
Children have the most to lose when toxins are in our food, our air, our water and now . . .products used on them. Thank goodness we can get a list of what to use, what NOT to use.
To combat the toxic effects of the above horrors, I do a total-body nutritional cleanse - a little each day to remove impurities from my body.
I am glad we have organizations like Environmental Working Group to help us through this maze of who is doing what to our food, our water, our air.
I read a lot about water bottles not fit to use. What about filtered water from the tap & stored in a hard plastic unit untill used to drink. I wonder where the correct gov. department is. Tap water is not good and buying bottled water is a crap shoot,as we have no idia where it was bottled. I could use some input in this inquary no BS.
Bob
Great topic. instead of inform on what we can't use we need to know what we can use. I will check that list out.
Bob the best choice is to use a high quality filter such as Aquasana and then store the water in glass in the fridge. Aquasana actually has a package where you can buy there glass bottles for storing and/or you can buy them separately.
Amen to that!! Very well put.
B