BABYCARE SAFETY INFORMATION

When choosing babycare products, ‘Best ever softness’, ‘hypoallergenic’ and ‘dermatologically tested’ do not quite mean what they appear to. Your average babycare product contain a cocktail of chemicals that are disguised as parfum, preservatives and colours. Look at labels on Baby-wipes, shampoo, nappy cream, bubble-bath’s, talcum powder and anything else going on your child’s skin. Babies skin and blood brain barrier are very thin compared to adults, so more chemicals can build up and lead to serious health disorders.

Sodium Laurel Sulphate is found in most baby and child products. It is a commercial detergent and is safe in very low doses if washed off the skin, but can trigger eczema if in prolonged contact with the skin in high concentrations.

Talcum powder can irritate the lungs and cause breathing problems if inhaled in large quantities. Past studies has shown a link between long-term genital use and ovarian cancer, but talc is not considered to be toxic in any way by the regulatory bodies.

Parfum can contain any of 200 different synthetic chemicals, so look out for that on labels.

Propylene glycol is prevalent in numerous baby products and has been linked to depressing the central nervous system – the nerves that make up the brain and spinal cord. It is an irritant and easily absorbed by the skin (especially babies skin) and has been linked to fatalities in premature babies.

Parabens are also worth watching out for. This family of compounds are mainly used as preservatives and are skin and eye irritants.They have also been found to mimic the female hormone oestrogen and have even been found in human breast tumors. This has led to suggestions that parabens are linked to breast cancer.

www.psychicchildren.co.uk/babycareproducts.html