Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo May Cause Cancer

Time to toss that classic yellow bottle in the trash. Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo contains two carcinogens that are causing environmental groups to boycott the product.

The original Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo (not to be confused with Johnson’s Naturels), has both ioxane and a substance called quaternium-15 that releases formaldehyde. The company has said that they are “gradually” phasing out these chemicals, but many products containing the carcinogens are still on the market, both in the US and abroad.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has been trying to get Johnson & Johnson, the largest health care company in the world mind you, to modify the signature product for two and a half years . The campaign has since launched a complete boycott of their product, as well a report on their findings entitled “Baby’s Tub is Still Toxic.” They ask the company to publicly promise that they will remove both chemicals from all products by November 15th.

Johnson & Johnson has responded by saying that the formaldehyde-releasing preservatives in the products are safe, citing the approval US regulators and those in other countries.

Although the campaigners are pleased to see that Johnson & Johnson has responded to their claims, the company has shown no further commitment to making their entire line of products free of carcinogens.

Considering the multitude of relatively cheap, organic baby soaps on the shelves these days, I’d throw this out and call it a day.

(photo: intheloving.com)