Over the past months, Melinda Olson, founder of EMAB, and the 3 Green Angels have held many Twitter parties discussing the presence of cancer-causing chemicals found in personal care products. Since I have been working closely with Melinda and the EMAB staff as their hospital liaison, I attend as many of these parties as possible. Stacy Malkan of the non-profit organization, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, also joins the party on occasion.

Most moms are quit shocked (as I was myself) to learn that the FDA does not regulate ingredients in our personal care products. According to the FDA, “With the exception of color additives and a few prohibited ingredients, a cosmetic manufacturer may use almost any raw material as a cosmetic ingredient and market the product without an approval from FDA.” Nice!...So now we have to trust these manufacturers to provide us (and our little ones) with safe products?! I use to trust the big name brands that we use in the hospitals and never did I think for one minute that our products contain carcinogens. Oh, my ignorant mind. Well, after researching products and finding great resources like the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Environmental Working Group, my eyes were open and I have lost trust in the companies that I once thought of as safe.

Read More: Let's Talk Chemicals with Mama

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