For some time now, scientists have warned about the harmful effects of ingredients used in personal care products. In our quest to get clean, many of us overlook the fact that shampoos and lotions can contain a suite of potential carcinogens. These toxins are harmful to us, and they pollute the environment when they are washed down our drains.
In the absence of strong regulation, we’ve been forced to be our own detectives, with many consulting reviews put out by organizations like the Environmental Working Group.
So when Kenneth A. Cook, Environmental Working Group’s president, says that a personal care product company has made an unprecedented move to clean up its practices, it gets my attention.
Global giant Johnson & Johnson, the company that makes everything from baby shampoo to wrinkle cream, recently announced that it will reduce, remove, or phase out several harmful ingredients from their products, including formaldehyde, dioxane, parabens, triclosan, and phthalates.
The changes were motivated by an analysis performed by The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of more than 175 non-profits that found formaldehyde and dioxane present in most of the products they tested. Formaldehyde was recently listed as a carcinogen by the U.S. National Toxicology Program; and under Proposition 65, dioxane is classified as cancer-causing in the state of California.
While Johnson & Johnson’s clean up may be a PR move meant to head-off future policy measures, it’s a step in the right direction by a multinational company. Let’s hope their competitors follow suit and commit to removing harmful chemicals from their products and our environment.
Web Links
Environmental Working Group
http://www.ewg.org/bodyburden/consumerproducts
Johnson & Johnson to Remove Formaldehyde From Products
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/business/johnson-johnson-to-remove-formaldehyde-from-products.html?_r=2
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
Photo, taken on January 27, 2011, courtesy of LC Photography via Flickr.