I haven’t had much time to post lately, but recently came across these articles that are too important to pass over.
It seems that some popular baby shampoos have an ingredient (not listed in the ingredient label) called 1,4-dioxane–a known animal carcinogen.
Channel 10 News did a piece on baby wash:
Although 1,4-dioxane is not listed on the label, there are some clues that it’s there.
Look for the words sodium laureth sulfate, or peg.
There are manufacturers that don’t use 1,4-dioxane, among them, California Baby and Aubrey Organics.
Popular dish soaps have also been found to contain 1,4-dioxane, the biggest offenders are the “natural” dish detergents- including the very popular brand, Seventh Generation.
Read 7th Generation response.
Brands found not to contain 1,4-dioxane include Burt’s Bees, Clorox Green Works, Avalon Organics and Dr. Bronner’s.
Babyherbs products are recommended as a safe alternative, and also California Baby and Aubrey Organics (thank goodness! I wash my son with CB and have since he was an infant)
The Environmental News Network has the full story here.
March 20th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Hi Nicole,
As a mom of four and a Seventh Generation employee, I very much appreciate your concern for your kid and your immediate environment.
Please know that Seventh Generation is very concerned about ingredient disclosure and transparency, and we applaud the Organic Consumer Association’s (OCA) recent research efforts to educate consumers about the safety of personal care and home cleaning products. It is important for consumers to know that Seventh Generation’s dish liquid, which does contain a minute amount of the ethoxylate 1,4-dioxane, is deemed safe according to the FDA’s and our own strict guidelines.
We are committed to eliminating all harmful chemicals from household cleaning products. Consistent with our core mission, we have worked with surfactant manufacturers for many years to reduce levels of 1,4-dixoane in ethoxylated surfactants and it is our intent to completely eliminate 1,4-dioxane from all of our products.
We share the OCA’s concerns about the misuse of terms such as “organic†and “natural†and the lack of disclosure requirements. We have championed this cause and have led the market for twenty years. We also believe that the decision to stop using conventional synthetic chemical cleaners is one of the most important ones you’ll ever make for the health of your family and the safety of your home. While our products are not perfect today, we will continue to improve them and are confident that they are a much better and safer choice than traditional cleaning products.
For more information about Seventh Generation’s commitment to consumers, please visit our 7th Gen blog!.
Again, thank you for keeping your audience informed.
Chrystie Heimert, Seventh Generation
March 24th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Hi Chrystie,
Thanks for your comment, it is nice to put a persons with a company. I did read the 7th Gen blog (and added a link to it) which shed some light on the issue.
Trying to keep harmful chemicals out of the home can be an all consuming job (they seem to be in almost everything) so to find out that companies leave ingredients off the label (that are harmful) is particularly disheartening.
Green minded consumers put so much trust into ‘green’ companies. We have to, otherwise the only thing left to do is mix our own household products. Who has time for that?
Nicole @ Lechebaby