Mama-press: Johnson & Johnson to Remove Toxic Chemicals by 2015

There is possibly no more iconic name in American personal care products than Johnson & Johnson. You may know, they have been under a lot of pressure in recent years to remove toxic chemicals and known or suspected carcinogens from their personal care line. Without climbing into the hotbed of controversy over their willingness and ability to market products with suspect chemicals, we're happy to say they have just agreed to remove toxic chemicals from their products by 2015. Click here to read about the details of this agreement to remove cancer-causing ingredients from their products.

You've heard the saying "you are what you eat." It is true...truly. It's also true that your body absorbs what you put on your body. So, one can claim "you are what you wear." Here is a brief list of some commonly known toxic chemicals and/or known carcinogens that are frequently used in personal care products. Now, I'm not a scientist and most likely you are not either, but don't be overwhelmed. See this list as keywords that should ring a warning bell if you see them while reading the ingredient labels on the products you buy (you do read them, right?!):

Phthalates - think personal care products
Bisphenol A (BPA) - think baby bottles, plastic water bottles and containers, sippy cups, canned food (always rinse before cooking...this helps rinse away chemicals and unwanted sodium)
"Fragrance" - think perfume and any scented body products
Triclosan - think handsoap
Parabens - think personal care products
Formaldehyde - think personal care products
Petroleum based chemicals
Volatile organic compounds
Pesticides - think crop dusting your veggies to kill little buggers
Perfluorochemicals (PFCs) - think the lining of a microwavable popcorn bag
Lead - think lipstick...yes, lipstick. Read this Feb. 2012 article entitled "Hundreds of Lipsticks Contaminated with Lead".

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a resource for keeping up to date on issues regarding cosmetic safety. They also have a link entitled "What's in Your Products" where you can click on common products and find the toxic details.

Environmental Working Group is a great resource for finding specific info. on specific products. For example, if you use Brand X Sensitive Skin Foaming Face Wash, you can type that into their search box, and find out if it has any red flag chemicals, as well as find out the safety rating EWG assigns to it. I used this before buying sunscreen this summer...I started by researching their Skin Deep sunscreen database.

My theory is we do not necessarily know our genetic make-up. We may be pre-disposed to various conditions based on our genes. Much of that is out of our control. We can control, however, the environmental exposures that can increase our risk of disease. Watch what you eat, be aware of the products you use, increase your health.

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2 comments:

The Savvy Mompreneur said...: Thanks for keeping us updated. This is great news! Also, I appreciate the links to other great resources.; August 17, 2012 6:09 PM
Tracy @ Mama-press said...: Thank you Roz. I agree it's great news and hopefully more manufacturers will become more responsible as well.; August 19, 2012 9:15 AM