Safety: March 2008 Archives

I hadn't been in a Whole Foods market in about two years. But today, I spent almost $25 (a pittance at WF, I know) on organic/nontoxic/hypo-allergenic cosmetics for my kids.

Full disclosure: As a parent, I tend to be lax about keeping synthetic stuff away from my children. I was microwaving my bottles a few years ago before anyone knew that wasn't such a good idea. And my girls were well into their toy biting phase way before the China Lead scandal.

So the point is, I have not been paranoid about this kind of thing to date. But when I started hearing about phthalates that are in something like 75% of all cosmetics, I thought a little paranoia about my kids health might be appropriate.

Phthalates, plasticizing agents added to synthetic fragrances, were found in a recent study to cause reproductive problems in small children. The study, published in Pediatrics this month, measured phthalates in the urine of 163 infants, whether they had been exposed to diaper cream, lotions and shampoos, and those cosmetics were linked to higher concentrations of the toxins. Creepy.

That's why I could justify spending $9.99 for a bottle of shampoo & body wash by Avalon Organics, and another $9.99 on a pump spray container of plant-based hair detangler made by California Baby. An added plus: the shampoo contains tea tree extract, which turns off lice. Very cool.

By the way, Target now stocks California Baby products and a few others like it, and I noticed Trader Joe's is selling Avalon shampoo for adults for about half the price it cost at CVS drugstore.