GoodGuide Baby Care Products Ratings

You want the best baby care products for your kids—if only it was easy to figure out what the best is. Baby care products can contain risky ingredients, including ingredients that are especially unsafe for babies’ sensitive skin and developing bodies. Some risky ingredients are found primarily in baby care products, like talc. This familiar base for many baby powders is a possible carcinogen that may cause lung tumors. (more)

Although you’ll rarely see them on the label, phthalates are often a part of the blend of chemicals identified as “fragrance” on a product’s ingredient list. Phthalates have been tied to all sorts of health concerns, including cancer, birth defects, and developmental problems. If possible, it’s best to avoid fragrance entirely—the catch-all term can conceal chemicals tied to allergies, hormone disruptors, and neurotoxins.

Other chemical ingredients to watch out for in baby care products include DMDM hydantoin, a form of formaldehyde that’s a strong skin irritant and immune system toxicant found in a wide range of products, oxybenzone, which causes your skin to more easily absorb other chemicals and is a possible carcinogen (even though it is the primary ingredient in many sunscreens!), parabens, which are common preservatives tied to skin irritation and immune system problems, and petroleum-derived fomaing agents like PEG or cetereath (found in shampoos, bubble baths, and baby wipes) that can be contaminated with the probable carcinogen 1,4-dioxane.

Finally, triclosan, an anti-bacterial chemical found occasionally in baby products, is linked to hormone disruption and is a strong wildlife toxin—it persists in the environment and accumulates in animals and may lead to the development of antibacterial-resistant bacteria.

So, here’s your checklist: look for baby care products without talc, fragrance, DMDM hydantoin, oxybenzone, parabens, PEG, cetereath, and triclosan, and you’ll be off to a healthy, safe start!