FRIDAY, Mar. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Many children's bath products may contain formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane, both of which are probable carcinogens, according to a report released Mar. 12 by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of organizations that calls for the removal of certain chemicals from personal care products.
According to the authors, the organization sent samples of 48 products -- including lotion, shampoo and bubble bath -- to the Analytical Sciences laboratory in Petaluma, Calif., for testing for 1,4-dioxane; 28 of these were also tested for formaldehyde. Twenty-three products contained formaldehyde, 32 products contained 1,4-dioxane, and 17 products contained both, the results showed.
Ingredients likely to contain 1,4-dioxane include peg-100 stearate, sodium laureth sulfate and polyethylene, the report notes. Ingredients often linked to formaldehyde include quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin and imidazolidinyl urea. None of the tested products listed formaldehyde or 1,4-dioxane on the label, the authors point out.
"The United States lags behind many other parts of the world in safety standards for personal care products. The European Union has banned more than 1,100 chemicals from cosmetics because they are known or highly suspected of causing cancer, genetic mutation, or reproductive harm. In contrast, the United States bans or restricts only 11 chemicals from cosmetics," the authors write.
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