Mom Moment
Top 7 Toxic Ingredients to Avoid When Shopping for Your Kids
Do you remember when shopping for kids was easy? Back when the main criteria for making a purchase were price and cuteness factor? Oh, those were the days ... before everything was so loaded down with toxic chemicals that buying a bottle of stuff to untangle your 6-year-old's mane requires a dictionary to decipher the ingredient list.
Most of the time that means buying something that "looks" like it should be OK. But how do you know if that new sport bottle really is safe? If that new bottle of "kids" shampoo is going to give them cancer? How about a list of the biggest, baddest toxic nasties that you need to avoid at all costs when you're shopping for your kids?
The Stir: Vaccine Mishap Could Mean Your Kid's Not Protected After All
The Stir asked the experts at the non-profit watchdog the Environmental Working Group to help us come up with a list of the top five ingredients in any child product that parents need to avoid. They did that and threw in two more biggies to keep away from the kids.
No more trying to figure out what every single word on the back of the bottle means: if any of these terms show up, you'd be better off putting it right back on the shelf.
What are the words you look for on the ingredients list of any kid product?
Image by Jeanne Sager
BPA
BPA or Bisphenol-A is a hot topic these days, but that doesn't mean it's gone away.
Where It's Hiding: Plastics, from the water bottle you buy for your kid's soccer practice to the inner lining of cans of children's soups.
Why You Need to Avoid It: According to the EWG, BPA exposure has been shown to disrupt the endocrine system and trigger a wide variety of disorders, including chromosomal and reproductive system abnormalities, impaired brain and neurological functions, cancer, cardiovascular system damage, adult-onset diabetes, early puberty, obesity, and resistance to chemotherapy.
Image via YIM Hafiz/Flickr
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CraftyJenna
First, the slideshows do not work well on this website! Second, this article was not very detailed, you give the name but then say it's in "personal care products" - what kind? How do we find them on the label? Do they have other names? It doesn't really help to say things like, well, these chemicals are in your carseat- good luck with that.
Yoli Sayson Karcher
.LoVeMyBuG.
Really, enough with the slideshows! I know I am not the only one who hates them!
butterflyfreak
Why do you insist on hiding what could potentially be useful information in your ridiculous slideshows that DON'T work?
coupon_ash_back
what isn't bad for you? *eye roll*
Nattydread
Sheila Beadling
NotMaud
So are there any products out there that don't contain all this stuff? It would be more helpful to give us some brands to look out for or tell us about products that are marketed as "natural" and "kid-friendly" but in fact contain hazardous ingredients.
Elizabeth Sotiropoulos
Did anyone else find it interesting how the author has "Diet Pepsi coursing through her veins" but warned us of the dangers of exposing our children to chemicals? But for the brands to watch out for and safer brands.... Basically any inexpensive, major brand contains these chemicals. They're cheap, prolong shelf life, and smell good. Some brands to think about buying: California Baby (soap, lotion, etc.), Burt's Bees, BabyGanics. A good laundry detergent is Rockin' Green. It's actually not much more expensive than using Purex and it REALLY gets stains out! :) Just do some research! And yes, doing the right thing for your and the environment is a little more expensive sometimes. But cancer isn't cheap, either.
Heather Duso Johnson
Am I the only one who thinks we should just get rid of plastic? Wouldn't that solve 99% of these issues?