It was all over the news yesterday that WE’RE KILLING OUR BABIES WITH SHAMPOO! Chemical leach through their precious skin and melt their reproductive organs. It’s the end of the world. It will be just like that movie Children of Men and it’s all due to us and our fascination with… AHHHHH!

Take a deep breath. Calm down.

I actually hunted down the research article in question and read it through in its entirety last night. In something of a cross/post (with absolutely no apologies to that glory-hogging cynic who originally posted it) here is what I found out:

Who was studied?

A small group of infants less than eight months of age who’s parents had agreed to routinely provide the researchers with a wet diaper and some general information about the care products they were using. Conclusions were drawn based on urine samples and some basic data about care product usage.

What was found?

Simply that infants whose parents used baby shampoos, baby lotions, and baby powders had higher levels of phthalates in their urine.

What are phthalates?

Phthalates are chemicals that are added to numerous consumer products and act as chemical stabilizers. They ensure that colors stay colors and scents don’t degrade too quickly. They are found in personal care products, food packaging, construction materials, plastics, and other common manufactured household objects. Also, it seems that phthalates are slowly released into the air from these products, meaning that most of us routinely ingest, inhale, or absorb through our skin these chemicals.

Why the fuss?

Some recent animal studies have shown that there might be a negative link associated between mammalian reproductive systems and exposure to phthalates. This is not a well understood risk and warrants more study, but nevertheless the researchers have pointed this out as an area of concern. And manufacturers are not required to list concentrations of these chemicals in their products.

Should we toss out our inventories of baby care products?

Well, you do what you need to do to sleep at night, but keep in mind a few additional thoughts on the subject please: First, all the links and connections that have been drawn with regard to health are hypothetical and theoretical extrapolations from similar research and have never officially been studied. Second, there are literally hundreds of household sources of these chemicals in the home and they can be absorbed, inhaled, ingested, or whatever through virtually every cell in our bodies. Third, in my humble opinion, the kinds of parents who slather their babies in powders, creams, lotions, and other manufactured products are the same folks who have air fresheners plugged into every room of their house, spray febreeze on every surface, and routinely coat themselves with lotions, gels, creams, moisturizers, and scents — and are more likely exposing their kids to the chemicals though the air or their own clothing than through relatively minor application to their kids. I don’t think the study accounted for this cultural deviancy.

I sound like some kind of shill for the baby product industry, but I’ve been noticing lately that we as a culture panic and over-react every time some makes a noise. Yeah, sometimes it really is a gunshot, but mostly it’s just a car backfiring.