Powerful Parents Get Toxins Removed From Popular Baby Shampoo

on November 10, 2011 at 1:49 PM

Johnson's Baby shampoo Parents who take the time to complain when a company's products for kids doesn't meet their own high standards know they're fighting a mega battle. But here's a bit of encouragement for them: Johnson & Johnson, a mega brand in the baby industry, is heeding parents' concerns about formaldehyde in its popular shampoo. They're retooling the whole line to can the carcinogen. Score one for the squeaky wheels!

Based on sheer company size alone, this is big news. Go to a baby shower, and it's a pretty safe bet that there will be at least one Johnson's product dug out of a gift bag. If executives there are willing to listen to parents, who else will?

Congress? The president? The UN?

OK, so let's not get ahead of ourselves. Fighting for our kids' safety and security is one of those jobs easily likened to eating an elephant. And it really has to be managed one bite at a time. Taking on too much is how you become that frazzled mom at the grocery store wearing one Ugg and one Croc, with a Cheerio in her hair and spit-up on her left shoulder.

She's one extreme. But at least she's trying. She's doing something more worthwhile than the other extreme: parents who throw up their hands and tell me, "Well, there's nothing I can do about [insert disturbing child health concern here]." They're the parents who can use this baby shampoo change as a wake-up call.

Just last week, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics lambasted the company for the presence of a cancer-causing agent in baby shampoo. It's the same stuff, by the way, that's in that freaky Brazilian blowout. This week, we have news from the folks at J&J that help is on the way. Of course, there was a lot of behind the scenes before that; parents writing letters, health practitioners jumping on board. But the point is: it worked. They listened. They changed.

Excuse me for sounding like a total cornball here, we are our children's voices. We can make a difference in their lives. All it takes sometimes is using that 10 minutes of free time you get in the day (ha, who am I kidding, 5 minutes!) to dash off an email or sign an online petition.

At the end of the day, when a company says, "Hey, we heard you, and we're changing this for millions of kids," it totally makes up for that 5 minutes of free time lost. I know I'm feeling good today.

How about you? Have you pushed a company to change its practices for the sake of your kids? Has it worked?

Image via Johnson's Baby

About the author Jeanne Sager

writes articles for The Stir by day, slays closet monsters and bounds through bedtime stories with her elementary schooler by night. Diet Pepsi courses through her veins. The Phineas and Ferb soundtrack reverberates through her brain.

Filed Under: baby gear, bathtime, safety

Comments (12)

Melissa042807

on Nov 10, 2011 at 1:57 PM

Holy CRAP. There is FORMALDEHYDE in baby shampoo??? What crackhead thought THAT was a good idea???

Some of my friends think I'm kooky for going on an organic kick and switching to all-natural body products for our entire family. But maybe they won't be laughing at me now...

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LoganTroyMom

on Nov 10, 2011 at 1:58 PM

awesome! Im due in jan and was soo worried

Momma2blessed

on Nov 10, 2011 at 2:15 PM

That's not the only bad ingredient in the major brands though... check Skindeep.com for list of other questionable ingredients and alternative brands to choose from. Just cause it's on the shelf doesn't mean it's been tested and/or safe!

taramoran6

on Nov 10, 2011 at 6:34 PM

I changed my whole house over a couple months ago to all natural products too; from cleaning supplies, baby shampoo, makeup, everything. After reading this I'm even more happy for making that decision! Formaldehyde in baby shampoo...REALLY! That's crazy. I was a bleach girl too...couldn't clean without it. I thought green products didn't clean but I was wrong...I found green products that clean better than bleach and my baby doesn't doesn't have some crazy chemicals in his shampoo either. Go green...better for your kids, for you, and for the environment.

Facebook comment from Paula Nuguid-Garcia

on Nov 17, 2011 at 11:13 AM

Support a company that has always been safe. No petitions, not letters needed: http://www.californiababy.com/

I'd rather support a company I don't have to BEG to keep my kids' products safe.

Nonmember comment from Jen

on Nov 17, 2011 at 11:18 AM

Hurray! One small step. Yet who will stand up and get formaldehyde out of vaccines that they ask us to inject directly into our babies' blood streams.

Facebook comment from Ruth Lanton

on Nov 17, 2011 at 11:46 AM

It's a baby step in the right direction!

Of course, informed parents will seek out organic baby care products or just wash their babies with plain water. But there are millions of babies out there whose parents are just too frazzled to worry about this, or who are too strapped for cash to "not use the baby shampoo she got as a baby shower gift."

Changing the commercial products means that all those babies are being protected, even if the truly informed parents aren't using the commercial products at all.

Facebook comment from Dannielle Richins

on Nov 17, 2011 at 11:53 AM

I want to be proud of this company for changing their line, but there shouldn't have been formaldehyde in the formula in the first place.

It surprises me how many people just grab products off the shelf and don't bother to read the ingredients. You have hormone disrupters, toxic chemicals (that companies deem "safe" in small doses).

In Europe, a company has to prove their product is safe before it can be sold in stores. In the US, a product can be sold in stores until someone dies or gets sick, and then it's tested for safety. This is so backwards and so wrong, ESPECIALLY when it comes to children's products.

We stick to vinegar and baking soda for cleaning and use shampoos/conditioners/body wash that are pthalate, paraben and SLS free. You aren't crazy for making the switch to natural products. Not only will they cost less, but they aren't destroying your body on a cellular and hormonal level.

Formaldehyde...I want to laugh but it's really a sick thought. Formadehyde and other toxins in baby shampoo- what a world.

Facebook comment from APoetic Pẽacẽ

on Nov 17, 2011 at 12:13 PM

if they take out the parabens, SLS, and disodium EDTA too, i might consider buying it.

consciousmom

on Nov 17, 2011 at 2:27 PM

I haven't had luck taking on a company (yet!) but I have taken on my daughter's school. As a nutritionist, I didn't like some of the foods they were serving her during snack time.

I met with the teachers who were responsible for their food budgets, and gave them some alternatives to what they were buying. Made sure the baby carrots they were giving the kids were organic, as the arsenic levels in commercially produced carrots is super high. I also donated an air popper for the daycare room, and bought in bulk a huge amount of organic popcorn kernels.... so that they wouldn't be serving GMO popcorn that they were cooking up in the microwave.

The school was happy for the donation, and the children were eating healthier snacks as a result. I'm continuing to work with the school to change their birthday party policies, so that the kids don't bring in sugary cupcakes every time there is a birthday celebration in the classroom. That way the children will have stronger immune systems from less sugar, and will therefore get sick less often. I'll be meeting also with the PA and the board to institute some changes in the school policies regarding nutrition.

I felt tired of feeling like I couldn't do anything, so I just went and did it! And it felt great. We all can do our part, and help vote with our dollars when it comes to products that are not only not healthy, but detrimental to our health.