Babies get a lot of rashes, typically in the diaper region, but now parents are reporting that their babies are having a severe allergic reaction to baby wipes in particular. There have been a few viral blog posts and shocking photos of skin rashes circulating on Facebook, instructing parents to "stop using baby wipes" or "never use baby wipes" because they contain a "toxic" ingredient.
And while the rashes are very real, the toxic part isn't entirely true, according to our experts in the Health, Beauty and Environmental Sciences Lab of the Good Housekeeping Institute. Some baby wipes contain a preservative ingredient called methylisothiazolinone (MI), which can cause an allergic reaction if left on your baby's skin, Sabina Wizemann, Senior Chemist in the Health, Beauty and Environmental Sciences Lab explains. Other beauty products for grown ups may also contain MI, like certain makeup, lotions, shampoo and conditioners.
Here's what the reactions can look like:
"We recommend staying away from leave-on products, such as lotions, creams and baby wipes, containing MI," Sabina says. "Rinse-off products like shampoos and conditioners containing MI in smaller concentrations are assessed to be safe by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), a research organization in the US."
Experts have been investigating the dangers of MI since 1994, when the CIR evaluated clinical evidence that MI was causing allergic reactions. Then, 20 years later, they deemed that MI is safe in small concentrations (0.01%, to be exact) for rinse-off products, but they left it up to manufacturers to decide on the MI levels used in the leave-on products, like baby wipes.
Here's the weird thing: Due to the limited FDA jurisdiction on cosmetics in the United States, companies don't legally have to abide by CIR's recommendation, Sabina explains. Just this year, the European Union agreed to ban MI as a preservative ingredient in leave-on cosmetic products.
Bigger companies, like Pampers and Huggies, have moved away from using MI in their products, and our experts suggest you take a hard look at the list of ingredients before you purchase a product. Keep in mind that even products marketed as "all-natural" could contain MI. We recommend Pampers Baby Fresh, which has the Good Housekeeping Seal and doesn't contain any traces of MI.
If you're worried about what's in your cosmetics or personal care products like baby wipes, we urge you to sign our petition to support the Personal Care Product Safety Act, which aims to get tighter FDA regulations on cosmetics in the United States.
From: Good Housekeeping US
