Choosing Safe products for you and your family:
The Original Little Sprout does not use cancer causing chemicals like the companies listed below.
Relax and enjoy bath-time with Worry-Free Luxury. Best wishes, Cozy & Inga

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 08, 2007

CONTACT: Kevin Donegan or Marisa Walker, Breast Cancer Fund, (415) 346-8223; Stacy Malkan, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, (202) 321-6963; David Steinman, author, “Safe Trip to Eden,” (310) 403-6995; Sheila Huettl, Freedom Press, (323) 208-2629

CANCER-CAUSING CHEMICAL FOUND IN CHILDREN'S BATH PRODUCTS
Women’s Shampoos and Body Wash also Contaminated

WASHINGTON — A hidden cancer-causing petrochemical has been found in dozens of children’s bath products and adults’ personal care products, in some cases at levels that are more than twice the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s lenient recommended maximum. Laboratory tests released today revealed the presence of 1,4-Dioxane in products such as Hello Kitty Bubble Bath, Huggies Baby Wash, Johnson’s Baby Wash, Scooby-Doo Bubble Bath and Sesame Street Bubble Bath. The tests also found the carcinogen in Clairol Herbal Essences shampoo, Olay Complete Body Wash and many other personal care products. 1,4-Dioxane is a petroleum-derived contaminant considered a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a clear-cut animal carcinogen by the National Toxicology Program. It is also on California’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals known or suspected by the state to cause cancer or birth defects. Because it is a contaminant produced during manufacturing, the FDA does not require it to be listed as an ingredient on product labels.

The problem of 1,4-Dioxane contamination in personal care products is highlighted in a new book, “Safe Trip to Eden: Ten Steps to Save the Planet Earth from the Global Warming Meltdown,” by David Steinman. The laboratory results were released jointly today at the National Press Club by Steinman and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of U.S.-based health and environmental groups working to protect cosmetics consumers from toxic chemicals and hold companies accountable for the safety of their products.

“Regrettably, 1,4-Dioxane contamination is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Jeanne Rizzo, R.N., executive director of the Breast Cancer Fund, a founding member of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. “Because the FDA does not require cosmetics products to be approved as safe before they are sold, companies can put unlimited amounts of toxic chemicals in cosmetics.” Steinman said parents should be outraged that companies are willing to spend a significant amount of money on entertainment licensing agreements that entice children but won’t spend pennies to remove contaminants such as 1,4-Dioxane. “Consumers who have young children, as I do, have the right to expect the highest purity in children’s products,” Steinman said. “I call on American consumers to say no to dangerous petrochemicals in their children’s cosmetic and personal care products.”

Contrary to what many consumers may believe, the FDA does not review or regulate cosmetics products or ingredients for safety before they are sold to the public and has no legal authority to require safety assessments of cosmetics. Devra Lee Davis, professor of epidemiology and director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, said that the usual regulatory approach of assessing risk one chemical at a time does not account for the combined effects of very low levels of hidden contaminants in personal care products and from other sources. “We must lower exposures to controllable agents that we know or suspect cause cancer,” she said.

The FDA has been measuring 1,4-Dioxane levels since 1979, but because the agency has little authority or enforcement capacity over the cosmetics industry, it has worked with manufacturers to reduce levels on a voluntary basis only. In 2000, the FDA recommended that cosmetic products should not contain 1,4-Dioxane at concentrations greater than 10 ppm (parts per million); yet some 15 percent of products tested exceeded even these lenient guidelines. This limit, however, also does not take into account that babies exposed to 1,4-Dioxane from baby shampoo may be exposed at the same time to 1,4-Dioxane from bubble bath, body wash and many other products. More than two dozen products were tested at Steinman’s request by West Coast Analytical Service, an independent testing laboratory specializing in trace chemical analysis. Among the products tested:

Product
Baby & Children’s Consumer Products

1,4-Dioxane
concentration
Disney Clean as Can Bee Hair & Body Wash (Water Jel Technologies) 8.8 ppm
Disney Pixar Cars Piston Cup Bubble Bath (MZB Personal Care) 2.2 ppm
Gerber Grins & Giggles Gentle & Mild Aloe Vera Baby Shampoo 8.4 ppm
Hello Kitty Bubble Bath (Kid Care) 12 ppm*
Huggies Baby Wash Shea Butter 4.0 ppm
Huggies Natural Care Baby Wash Extra Gentle and Tear Free 4.2 ppm
Johnson’s Head-to-Toe Baby Wash (Johnson & Johnson) 5.3 ppm to 6.1 ppm
Johnson’s Kids Tigger Bath Bubbles (Johnson & Johnson) 5.6 ppm to 7.9 ppm
Johnson’s Kids Shampoo Watermelon Explosion (Johnson & Johnson) 10 ppm*
Lil’ Bratz Mild Bubble Bath (Kid Care) 3.7 ppm
L’Oreal Kids Orange Mango Smoothie Shampoo 2.0 ppm
Mr. Bubble Bubble Bath Gentle Formula with Aloe 1.5 ppm
Rite-Aid Tearless Baby Shampoo 4.3 ppm
Scooby-Doo Mild Bubble Bath (Kid Care) 3.0 ppm
Sesame Street Wet Wild Watermelon Bubble Bath (The Village Company) 7.4 ppm

Adult Consumer Products
Clairol Herbal Essences Rainforest Flowers Shampoo 23 ppm*
Olay Complete Body Wash with Vitamins (normal skin) 23 ppm*
Suave Naturals Passion Flower 2.0 ppm
*Product was at or above FDA maximum

To learn more about these findings, click here

Women and girls use an average of 12 personal care products daily, according to a 2004 survey conducted by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The Environmental Working Group's interactive product safety guide, Skin Deep, allows consumers to find products free of common carcinogenic impurities like 1,4-Dioxane.

Personal-Care Products Can
Spur Breast Development in Boys
Tea tree oils and lavender produce a condition
called gynecomastia, study finds.

WEDNESDAY, June 28 (HealthDay News) -- Personal-care products containing tea tree oils and lavender appear to cause abnormal breast development in pre-pubescent boys, a new study found. The ingredients, which have an estrogen-like effect, are found in various shampoos, lotions, soaps and other products. "There's definitely an association between exposure to lavender oil and tea tree oil and gynecomastia [abnormally large breasts in men]," said Derek Henley, lead author of the research and a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Henley stopped short of declaring a cause-and-effect relationship, but did emphasize that the information could help physicians identify cases of gynecomastia that have no readily apparent cause. "It may help steer physicians in a direction they wouldn't have thought of," Henley said. "The message is to raise awareness, so the public is aware of the association, and physicians are aware of it," he said. Dr. Edward Reiter, chairman of pediatrics at Bay State Children's Hospital in Springfield, Mass., added, "The issue is a Sherlock Holmes kind of thing. This was a pretty good pick-up. It's old-fashioned science sleuthing. You have a problem, and you figure out what's going on." Henley presented the findings at the just-completed annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in Boston. Reiter was moderator of a press conference announcing the findings. Gynecomastia is associated with an imbalance of estrogens (so-called female hormones) and androgens (so-called male hormones). Young boys don't produce much testosterone, so there is nothing in the body to counteract extra estrogen, such as might come from mistakenly taking a mother's birth control pill or, more concerning, an estrogen-secreting tumor. The condition is unusual. "I may see a patient every year or every other year with this, a pre-pubertal boy who has some breast development," Reiter said. "Usually, it's a tiny amount, and you never find out what it is, then it goes away," he explained. But when Dr. Clifford Bloch, co-author of the study and a pediatric endocrinologist in Denver, saw five boys with the problem, he decided to investigate. All of the boys, he soon realized, had used over-the-counter health-care products containing lavender and/or tea tree oil on their hair or skin.When tested on human breast cancer cells, the oils appeared to mimic the activity of estrogen and also suppressed male hormone responsiveness. After discontinuing use of the lavender and tea tree oils, all of the boys saw the problem resolved. And even though the condition is relatively uncommon, experts think this information will help clear other "mystery" cases."My guess is that this sort of thing occurs in a scattered way in little boys all the time," Reiter said. "It may well be that someone wouldn't even think of this. Now, doctors can ask if the patient is using any products," he said.The American Academy of Family Physicians has more on gynecomastia.

(SOURCES: Derek Henley, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, N.C.; Edward Reiter, M.D., chairman of pediatrics, Bay State Children's Hospital, Springfield, Mass.; June 25, 2006, presentation, The Endocrine Society annual meeting, Boston)

Headteaching, pharmacy and hairdressing are three jobs carrying an increased risk of breast cancer, according to a Swedish study
The survey, of more than a million women revealed these inexplicable patterns, also implicating systems analysts, beauticians and telephone operators as having a higher than normal risk.

What Are SULFATES?
Most hair products that contain sulfates, which are caustic chemicals and cannot be washed off our bodies with water they actually penetrate the skin-barrier and are absorbed into our tissues. This absorption process can cause the sebum of the hair shaft to become crystallized, effectively closing the hair follicle. The resultant induction of skin tightness of the scalp severely reduces life-giving blood flow to the hair follicle! Over a period of time the crystallized sebum prevents the re-growth of healthy hair. As a further result of this damage by chemical emulsifiers the hair follicles itself deteriorates and can no longer produce hair! The result is thinning and receding hairlines in both men AND women.
Our Children’s Collection Natural Shampoo used regularly instead of, any sulfates, olefin sulfate, parabens, DEA, artificial colors & Dyes- the scalp environment is enriched and the body responds by "healing itself". A hair follicle can stay "alive" for up to ten years without a hair growing from it. Therefore, our Original Little Sprout Children’s  Shampoo will help to make hair grow, but in reality we have simply found an all-natural way to remove the offending ingredients that have been proven to CAUSE hair loss. In addition, hair loss caused by chemicals will stop within a few short days and your scalp will return to its normal healthy state!