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Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power Mark Schapiro See book keywords and concepts

But for those who do not have the resources, who are more inclined to buy their toys at discount parlors or buy generic brands online —from outlets that sell millions of baby products each year—if the toys are plastic and soft there is a good chance they contain phthalates. There is no way to know for sure if toys do not contain phthalates, short of sending them to a testing laboratory, an investment of thousands of dollars, which makes it a rather implausible option.

But when health officials began following the trail of baby products, they were confounded by how little they actually knew about the chemicals inside. Regulators discovered that they did not possess the information needed to control potential hazards from the thousands of chemicals with which all Europeans, not only infants, come into contact over the course of a lifetime. Some of the manufacturers did not even know what was in their own products. The great black hole at the heart of TSCA and its European cousins was laid bare.

The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry Is Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children Carol Simontacchi See book keywords and concepts

Fermenting soy products to make tofu and other foods eliminates the phytic acid content of the soy product, but baby products are produced from unfermented soybeans. Zinc and copper are antagonistic essential minerals. The body needs about 8.5 times more zinc than copper, and keeping these minerals in this proportion is critically important to the health of the brain. Phytic acids in soy block the absorption of zinc in the intestine, which increases copper and unbalances these two powerful minerals.

The Politics of Cancer Revisited Samuel S. Epstein, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

So do many leading brands of baby products. And the Body Shop, whose product sales are built on a reputation of containing natural ingredients, also offers products containing this chemical. There are many safer yet equally effective products available. Padimate-0 (also known as octyl dimethyl PABA) is found in cosmetics, especially sunscreens. It can also cause formation of nitrosamines. At present it is not known whether the particular nitrosamine formed in this product is carcinogenic. Some experts have recommended that consumers continue to use sunscreens with padimate-O.

Hormone Deception D. Lindsey Berkson See book keywords and concepts

Many major retailers (Kmart, Sears, Target, Toys "R" Us, and Wal-Mart) now stock only phthalate-free baby products. BABY BOTTLES Dispose of all clear, shiny plastic baby bottles, unless the manufacturers tell you they're not made of polycarbonate. Replace with bottles made of glass or an opaque, less-shiny plastic (often colored) made from polyethylene or polypropylene. Evenflo has brought tempered glass bottles back on the market. For more information contact Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet at 888/ECO-INFO or www. mothers.org/mothers. WHAT THE SCIENTISTS SAY • Dr.

Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives: A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients Vitamin E Ruth Winter See book keywords and concepts

Used in hair straighteners, antiperspirants, baby products, fragrances, polish removers, hair tonics, lipsticks, and protective creams. It is a binder, plasticizing agent, solvent, and softener widely used for cosmetic cream bases and pharmaceutical ointments. Improves resistance to moisture and oxidation. At this writing, the FDA was doing a toxicology search. POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL (600) DIOLEATE • Polyethylene glycol esters of mixed fatty acids from tall oil; polyethylene glycol (400 through 6,000).

Bitter Pills: Inside the Hazardous World of Legal Drugs Stephen Fried See book keywords and concepts

The articles discussed how the introduction of the drug was expected to boost stock prices for the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical and toiletries behemoth Johnson & Johnson, a $14 billion firm best known for, besides its drugs, shampoos and baby products. The stories went on to explain how J&J's profits in the first quarter of 1991, when Floxin hit the American market, had jumped 13 percent. In the third quarter of 1992, which ended just weeks before my wife was Floxed, earnings were up another 17 percent.

Johnson & Johnson was one of the few that primarily sold shampoo and baby products; it acquired its very marketing-oriented drug divisions only later. So it made sense that, as J&J's consultant, Kligman would begin preaching the gospel of a new class of products that he called "cos-meceuticals." "The first time I used that term," Kligman remembered, "I was talking to the manufacturers of cosmetics at their annual meeting. I took them to task. I said, 'You pretend your products are only cosmetics, that they don't affect the skin, only because you don't want the FDA on you. . . .

A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients Ruth Winter, M.S. See book keywords and concepts

It is used as an emollient and gives that "velvety feel" to baby products and to skin, hair, and bath preparations such as creams, lotions, powders, and sprays. The CIR Expert Panel (see) found it safe. See Lanolin. ACETYLATED LANOLIN ALCOHOL • The CIR Expert Panel (see) found it safe. See Acetylated Lanolin. ACETYLATED PALM-KERNEL GLYCERIDES • See Acetylated and Palm-Kernel Oil. ACETYLATED TALLOW • See Acetylated and Tallow. ACETYLCHOLINE • A chemical neurotransmitter that is released by nerve cells and stimulates either other nerve cells or muscles and organs throughout the body.

The inner bark contains a lot of mucilage and is used in cosmetics, in baby products, and in herbal products to soothe the skin. EMBRYO EXTRACT • An oil extracted from fetal calves, often promoted in "youth-restoring" creams and lotions. EMETINE CHLORIDE • A preservative. Made from ipecac (see), it is used in medicine to treat amebic dysentery. Acute toxicity can occur at any dose. EMOLLIENTS • Creams, Lotions, Skin Softeners, and Moisturizers. An emollient by whatever designation—night cream, hand cream, eye cream, skin softener, moisturizer, and so on—remains an emollient.

A quaternary ammonium compound used as a germicide in cosmetics and baby products such as baby oils. Also used as a topical disinfectant. See Quaternary Ammonium Compounds for toxicity. 4-METHYLBENZYLIDENE CAMPHOR • See Camphor. METHYLCELLULOSE • Cellulose Methyl Ether. Citrucel. Cologel. A binder, thickener, and emulsifying ingredient used in wave-setting lotions, bath oils, and other cosmetic products. Introduced in 1947, this compound is prepared from wood pulp or chemical cotton by treatment with alcohol. It swells in water and increases bulk.

Also used in baby products, moisturizers, body and hand preprations, and cleansing creams as well as makeup removers and suntan preparations. See Kathon CG. METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE/METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE • Used in cosmetics as a broad spectrum preservative. It is highly toxic in rats and rabbits orally but only moderately toxic when applied to the skin. Can be a skin sensitizer in humans.

Used in hair straighteners, antiperspirants, baby products, fragrances, polish removers, hair tonics, lipsticks, and protective creams. It is a binder, plasticizing ingredient, solvent, and softener widely used for cosmetic cream bases and pharmaceutical ointments. Improves resistance to moisture and oxidation. POLYGALA SENEGA • See Senega Extract. POLYGLYCEROL • Prepared from edible fats, oils, and esters of fatty acids. Derived from corn, cottonseed, palm, peanuts, safflower, sesame, and soybean oils, lard, and tallow. Used as an emulsifier in cosmetics. No known toxicity. See Glycerol.

Staying Healthy in a Risky Environment: The New York University Medical Center Family Guide Arthur C. Upton, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

Nursery Many parents assume products designed for use by babies are safe, but about 57,000 babies suffer serious or fatal injuries from the use of baby products each year. (continued) Cribs • Make sure slats, spindles, or crib rods are spaced no more than 2Vs inches apart. Babies have been injured when widely spaced slats have allowed arms, legs, and torso to slip through, but not the head. No slats should be missing or cracked. • The mattress should fit snugly: If you can fit more than two fingers between the edge of the mattress and the crib side, the mattress is too small.

If you plan to use an older crib, refinish it using lead-free paint designed for use on baby products. • Remove all toys strung across the crib when the baby can push up on hands and knees or has reached five months of age. These babies can pull themselves up to a hanging crib toy and fall over it or become entangled in it, but they can't disentangle themselves or support their weight. Toys ' Buy toys with a child's age, interests, and skill level in mind. Keep toys with small parts away from small children who can swallow or choke on them.

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