In the last 30 years, we’ve seen a fairly alarming trend of increasing childhood disease rates worldwide. Research in the United States and Europe shows increases in incidences of childhood cancers, as well as increases in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, early-onset puberty, asthma, and allergies.
There’s also a growing body of scientific studies linking chemicals found in consumer products with specific illnesses (usually studied in animals). And while there is no scientific consensus on the overall causes of these trends, there is enough evidence now to help people buy better products to avoid certain chemicals, until those chemicals are proven safe. This perspective is called the precautionary principle. With babies I think it makes a lot of sense. Rather than requiring that someone (usually an under-funded regulatory agency, or even less-funded non-profit organizations) prove these chemicals definitively cause childhood cancers and other illnesses, we simply say, let’s avoid them until industry provides the data to prove that they are safe.
Based on that idea, many chemicals are now banned in baby care products in Europe and Japan. So when I go shopping for stuff for my five-year-old daughter, I try to avoid these chemicals as well:
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Read more about the top 10 chemicals to avoid in babycare products after the break.
