| The first time we washed our son in a basin he | | | | in cosmetics), it “adversely affects the secretion |
| became very upset, though his cries pierced our | | | | of testosterone and the function of the male |
| young parental ears, it was still a wonderful | | | | reproductive system.” |
| experience to go through because it was a way of | | | | There are many health concerns associated with |
| being able to nurture him; a way of bonding with him. | | | | phthalates and parabens. There is no reason to risk |
| We had all of his bathing supplies laid out for the | | | | exposing your baby to these chemicals when there |
| occasion. They included a bottle of scented liquid | | | | are alternative products on the market. It is |
| body soap, baby shampoo, baby powder, baby | | | | important that we find organic products that not only |
| lotion, and a little yellow baby towel. Many of the | | | | meet our babies cleaning needs but are safe for |
| products we cleaned him with worked just fine and | | | | them as well. |
| they were products put on the market for babies so | | | | When choosing your organic products make sure that |
| we believed that they were completely safe as well. | | | | you read the labels very carefully. Just because a |
| Unfortunately, there is one important thing that we | | | | product states that it is natural does not mean it is |
| did not know about the products we use to clean | | | | necessarily phthalate and paraben free. Here are |
| our baby. A lot of these products contain Phthalates | | | | some ways to determine whether a product contains |
| (pronounced th-al-ates) and Parabens (pronounced | | | | these chemicals: |
| par-ah-bens); the former is a synthetic chemical used | | | | 1) The first and most obvious is to look for products |
| to make plastics flexible and stabalize fragrances in | | | | that say phthalate free (please note that not many |
| many consumer products (i.e. cosmetics) and the | | | | products are labeled this way). |
| latter is a chemical preservative used in skin care | | | | 2) Identify phthalates in products by their |
| products (i.e.shampoos,shaving and cleansing gels, | | | | abbreviations or chemical names such as DBP |
| lotions, topical pharmaceuticals and lubricants). | | | | (di-n-butyl phthalate)DEP (diethyl phthalate), and BzBP |
| Phthalates have been shown to cause birth defects | | | | (benzylbutyl phthalate). |
| in animals. In an article published in the February 2008 | | | | 3) Identify parabens in labels by the terms methyl |
| edition of the Official Journal of the American | | | | paraben, propyl paraben, butyl paraben and ethyl |
| Academy of Pediatrics, the authors stated that | | | | paraben. |
| "young infants are more vulnerable to the potential | | | | 4) If it says "fragrance" then it might have |
| adverse effects of phthalates given their...metabolic | | | | phthalamates. If is says "unscented" or |
| capabilities, and developing endocrine and | | | | "fragrance-free" there is still a possibility that the |
| reproductive systems. | | | | product is made using synthetic chemicals so as to |
| Parabens have been found to mimic the hormone | | | | cover the odor. |
| estrogen and might contribute to the development | | | | 5) Contact companies to inquire about the ingredients |
| of breast cancers. In an article published in the July | | | | in the products you are interested in. |
| 2002 edition of the Archives of Toxicology it was | | | | 6) Find out if companies have ingredient lists for their |
| stated that when newborn male mammals are | | | | products that are either accessible on their websites |
| exposed to butyl paraben (an anti-fungal preservative | | | | or can be sent to you if requested. |