Baby toiletries – are they affecting our children?

Most new mums buy all the toiletries produced especially for baby care – but one mum found that the combination of products was harming her daughter’s health…

• Charlotte’s story
• Chemical combinations
• Worries about the effects
• Campaign launch
• Natural alternatives
• Where to next?

Charlotte’s story

When baby Sandra was born, Charlotte Vohtz was like any new mum. She bought all the
special toiletries marketed to help her take good care of her child. But two years later, after a battle against her daughter’s eczema, skin pigmentation
condition and allergies, Charlotte discovered it was the chemical cocktail in the array of
baby toiletries and household products she was using that had been causing Sandra’s
problems. It was only when Charlotte, who had spent 11 years working in the pharmaceutical
industry, threw out the baby lotions, baby oil, bubble bath and shampoos, that her
daughter’s condition began to improve. Sandra is now a healthy eight
year old.

Charlotte, originally from Denmark but now living in West Sussex,
says, "I believe
Sandra was reacting to the pesticides and herbicides in food and the man made chemicals in
the baby-care products. Chemicals are everywhere, in washing powder, household cleaners
and even the paint we used in her room. Once we got rid of as many of these as we could,
she started to get better."

Each product is safe if used alone, but Charlotte’s concerns focused on what happens
when more than one product is used at a time.

Chemical combinations

Charlotte, who has since set up Green People, a mail order company manufacturing
chemical-free toiletries, realised that while many of the chemicals are harmless in
isolation, exposure to tiny amounts of just two at the same time could be far more
dangerous than either of the chemicals alone.

"Many of the chemicals used in household products are volatile, becoming gaseous
at room temperature, which makes them easy to inhale. Toxins are found in air, water,
food, cleaners, clothes, personal care products, carpets, mattresses, furniture –
just about everywhere. The problem is the synergy – that is the key issue. Some are
inhaled, some are in food, some are absorbed by the skin. We are being bombarded by
chemicals and babies are the most vulnerable to their effects," she
explains.

Worries about the effects

Charlotte’s background in the pharmaceutical industry meant she knew a lot about the
chemicals in the products and she discovered that many in baby products were not only
irritants, but had been shown in research to have carcinogenic (cancer-causing) effects.
One of the most widely used is sodium lauryl sulphate – a foaming agent. In tests,
it has been found to cause eye damage, rashes, flaking skin and mouth ulcers.

Campaign launch

Environment lobby group Friends of The Earth are also worried about some of the
chemicals used in everyday products. They recently launched a campaign aimed at persuading
companies, including those who manufacture baby products, to stop using what they describe
as ‘risky’ chemicals.

Dr Michael Warhurst, safer chemicals campaigner, says: "Research has shown that
problems are beginning to emerge, but with many of the chemicals we really don’t know the
long-term effects. Babies and children are more at risk because they are developing."

He said alkyl phenols used in paint were known hormone disrupters and, despite current
guidance that painting is safe for pregnant women as long as lead-based paints are
avoided, he advises pregnant women not to get involved in the painting of nurseries. He
said parents should also make sure children were kept away from newly-painted rooms until
the smell had completely disappeared.

Other areas of concern are in the use of bisphenol, another hormone disrupting chemical
used in plastic baby bottles. Dr Warhurst claims research showed that the chemical leached
out once the bottles were worn, as did phthalates in PVC, a plastic that
babies come into
regular contact with. Although there is a European ban on using PVC in products that are
specifically designed for babies to put in their mouths, it is still widely used in toys.

Natural alternatives

Charlotte Vohtz has spent the three years since she set up Green People researching
natural alternatives to chemical ingredients and developing a range of toiletries for
babies and adults.

She says: "60 per cent of everything we put on our skin is absorbed. When
pregnant, all the toxins we come into contact with are passed to the baby. Even before
they are born babies are being bombarded, and then they are born into a chemical world.
It’s no wonder so many babies have allergies and eczema. It is horrifying."

Where to next?

• Friends
  of the Earth has produced a free chemical information pack for parents.
  Available by ringing their head office: 020 74901555.
• What are your views on baby toiletries? Share your experiences on
  our discussion boards.
• Read more about bathing
  your baby and children’s bath
  products
• Read more about eczema
  in children, including what you can do to avoid potential sources of
  irritation and allergens.
• See more babyworld features
• Visit
  the babyworld shop for a range of natural skincare products