Formaldehyde and You

Nicholas Kristof's column in the 10/7/12 New York Times talked about The Cancer Lobby. He asks us to:

Just consider formaldehyde, which is found in everything from nail polish to kitchen countertops, fabric softeners to carpets. Largely because of its use in building materials, we breathe formaldehyde fumes when we’re inside our homes.

Just one other fact you should know: According to government scientists, it causes cancer.

and then goes on to say:

The [chemical] industry’s strategy is to lobby Congress to cut off money for the Report on Carcinogens, a 500-page consensus document published every two years by the National Institutes of Health, containing the best information about what agents cause cancer. If that sounds like shooting the messenger, well, it is.

The article is well worth reading in it's entirety, but at this point we'll pause to look at which products do contain formaldehyde.,br.

• The Environmental Working Group provides a list of household cleaning products containing formaldehyde.
• The U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services has a list of even more products containing formaldehyde, including some brands of glue, hair smoothing products, softsoap, cat & dogs shampoos, and more.
• Safecosmetics.org has the report, No More Toxic Tub: Getting Contaminants Out of Children's Bath and Personal Care Products, which reveals exactly which baby shampoos, lotions and other products contain formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals.

It's scary to now know that Johnson's Baby Shampoo, for instance, so widely used for decades, contains formaldehyde. Due to the publication of the 2009 No More Toxic Tub report finally agreed, two years later to reformulate its baby products. We need to continue have open and accurate information about the chemicals used in everyday products. The chemical companies should put the millions they spend lobbying to surpress these reports into making safer products.