New bill to get toxins out of baby's bath

A few weeks ago I wrote about the new report that found toxic chemicals like formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane that were found in Johnson & Johnson baby bath products.  

I also wrote about Johnson & Johnson's response when I contacted them about the report and asked if we could all work together to achieve what we both want ... safe products for our children. Basically, Johnson & Johnson is happy to stick with the company line that a little bit of toxins won't kill our babies and anyhow, the FDA says it's OK, so why should they do anything differently?

 

Well that attitude may have to change if the Safe Baby Products Act, a new bill proposed by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand makes its way through Congress. The Safe Baby Products Act would require that the FDA investigate the safety of ingredient byproducts in baby bath products, publicly announce their findings, and create manufacturing guidelines to minimize the presence of toxins. Under current regulations, manufacturers are not expected to list those byproducts (like formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane) on the bottle, or to stop using the processes that lead to their presence in products.

 

Photo by sean dreilinger