In a news conference held at the National Press Club March 12, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics displayed examples of children's bath products it says are contaminated with carcinogenic substances.

While the Campaign has raised such cries before, it appears as if more than ever it is turning heads in Congress. In response to the "Toxic Tub" report, Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., says she intends to introduce legislation that would tighten regulation of cosmetics.

According to the Campaign's new study, "dozens" of top-selling children's bath products - including Johnson's Baby Shampoo and The Village Company's Sesame Street Bubble Bath - are tainted with formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of groups including the Breast Cancer Fund and Environmental Working Group that formed in 2004 out of concerns about phthalates, has since targeted lead in lipstick and numerous other "chemicals of concern" in personal-care products.

In June of last year, the organization issued a statement "strongly urg[ing] all manufacturers of personal-care products, in both the natural and conventional sectors, to eliminate ethoxylated chemicals from products" in response to an Organic Consumers Association report that found 1,4-dioxane in 46 of 100 products tested.

In its newly released report, the Campaign details results from its own analysis in which 48 products were tested for 1,4-dioxane, and 28 of those products for formaldehyde as well.

Among the 17 of 28 products (61 percent) that contained both substances of concern were Gerber Grins & Giggles Milk & Honey Baby Wash and Huggies Naturally Refreshing Cucumber & Green Tea Baby Wash.

The organization's findings confirm "the widespread presence of both formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane in bath products for children," it says.

The Campaign maintains that the substances should be removed from personal-care products - particularly those targeted to children - due to their identification by the Environmental Protection Agency as probable human carcinogens.

"Children are exposed to toxic chemicals from many sources. We need to protect them from these kinds of repeated, unnecessary exposures," says Jeanne Rizzo, president and CEO of the Breast Cancer Fund.

The Campaign is no stranger on Capitol Hill. Jane Houlihan, VP-research at founding member EWG, testified before Congress last year on alleged gaps in cosmetics regulation and perceived shortcomings of the Cosmetic Ingredient Review process (¹ Also see "House Subcommittee Hearing Explores Alleged Gaps In Cosmetic Safety" - HBW Insight, 19 May, 2008., p. 3).

This latest effort of the Campaign seems to have gotten the attention of legislators.

"To think that cancer-causing chemicals are contaminating baby shampoos and lotions is horrifying," says Sen. Feinstein, who notes her intention to introduce a bill requiring greater oversight of the personal-care industry.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., is of a similar mind: "The fact that we are bathing our kids in products contaminated with carcinogens shows how woefully out of date our cosmetics laws are and how urgently they need to be updated."

"The science has moved forward, now the FDA needs to catch up and be given the authority to protect the health of Americans," the congresswoman concludes.

Risk Allegations Are "Patently False," Says Council

With the change of government, the Council has been on the alert for challenges from more liberal lawmaking bodies.

At its annual meeting in Boca Raton, Fla., Board Chairman Dan Brestle said the trade organization is committed in 2009 to ensuring that developing policies affecting the personal-care industry are "sound and appropriate."

In a strongly worded March 12 release, the Council calls the Campaign's allegations of risk related to 1,4-dioxane "patently false."

The Campaign's "No More Toxic Tub" report amounts to a "shameful and cynical attempt by an activist group to incite and prey upon parental worries and concerns in order to push a political, legislative and legal agenda," the trade group says.

The Council stresses that both FDA and the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel have found 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde to be safe in personal-care products "at low levels."

According to the Campaign, 32 of 48 tested products (67 percent) contained traces of 1,4-dioxane, with concentrations ranging from 0.27 parts per million to 35 ppm. The highest levels of the chemical were detected in American Girl shower items, it says.

The coalition says 23 of 28 products (82 percent) contained formaldehyde at levels between 54 ppm and 610 ppm, with Playtex 's Baby Magic Baby Lotion identified as the most grievous offender.

The Council questions the study methodology, which it says is not spelled out. "This is particularly important for formaldehyde because the process for accurately determining and measuring its presence is a highly complex procedure that must be correctly performed," the release notes.

Nevertheless, the trade group maintains that "the levels of the two chemicals the group reportedly found are considered to be 'trace' or extremely low ... and are not a cause for health concern."

The fact that the chemicals were found at such small levels is in fact evidence of the industry's abiding concern about product safety, the Council says.

"Companies have gone to great lengths in the formulation and manufacturing processes to ensure that the products are safe and gentle for children and also protected from harmful bacterial growth."

In the Organic Consumers Association's most recent round of testing - results from which released March 6 - it noted an encouraging downtick in levels of 1,4-dioxane (see ² Also see "OCA Notes Downtick In 1,4-Dioxane Levels In Personal Care, Vows To Fight On" - HBW Insight, 16 March, 2009.).

1,4-dioxane is a by-product of ethoxylation, which renders certain surfactants less harsh. While the European Cosmetics Directive bans the chemical in cosmetic products, FDA has determined that levels of the chemical found in personal-care products "do not present a hazard to consumers," the Council notes.

Formaldehyde Found In Cooked Veggies, Air

Formaldehyde, the Council says, is "a simple compound consisting of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon [that] occurs naturally in the air we breathe and is even part of the human metabolism."

Cooking certain vegetables, such as Brussels sprouts and cabbage, causes formaldehyde to be released as a byproduct, it says.

The trade group explains that certain preservatives - used in cosmetics to protect them "from harmful contamination by microorganisms during storage and during continued use by consumers" - leach small amounts of the substance.

The limit for formaldehyde in personal care is capped at 2,000 ppm by both CIR and the European Union's Cosmetics Directive, according to the Council.

But talk of limits is not likely to assuage the Campaign. That the U.S. does not outright forbid the presence of suspected carcinogens in personal care is fingered by the watchdog as the crux of the problem.

"Congress urgently needs to reform federal policy to protect the most vulnerable members of our society by ensuring that the personal-care products we use every day are free from harmful chemicals," says EWG's Houlihan.

In an interview with "The Rose Sheet" in late 2008, EWG President Ken Cook said the group would have an eye out this year for "opportunity to end the system of [cosmetics] self-regulation" (³ Also see "EWG Takes Aim At Cosmetics Self-Regulation Under New Administration" - HBW Insight, 17 November, 2008., p. 9).

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass, is likely to lend them an ear. "Formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane are better suited for the chem lab, not a child's bathtub," he states in response to the Campaign's findings.

"This important report shows that 'No More Tears' can trigger toxic fears, and it provides another reason why these and other cosmetic products must be further regulated," the statesman asserts.

- Molly Laas (m.laas@elsevier.com)

Campaign Finds “Toxins” In Kids’ Bath Products; Democrats Outraged

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