Under pressure from consumer groups, Johnson & Johnson has finally begun to purge a potentially harmful chemical from its “No More Tears” baby products.

You’d never knowingly scrub your child’s head with formaldehyde, yet for years a lack of label transparency at Johnson & Johnson has allowed parents to do just that. See, for a long time the brand’s “No More Tears” baby shampoo products contained quaternium-15, a chemical preservative that releases formaldehyde as it ages. Yes, the amount of potential formaldehyde is very small and, yes, Johnson & Johnson claims its safe for human use. But still, if you can make a product as important as baby shampoo without it, why wouldn’t you?

That’s the question asked by thousands of parents who petitioned the company to change its formula. And now, Johnson & Johnson has finally agreed. According to the Environmental Working Group, which led the grassroots effort, the company has altered the formula of about 100 of its baby products to remove the quaternium-15, and reduced levels of 1,4 dioxane, which the federal government suspects to be carcinogenic.

To its credit, Johnson & Johnson also pledged to reformulate more of its wares by next year, including removing or limiting several other toxic chemicals in baby and adult products. Significantly, however, it is stopping short of removing all formaldehyde releasers from adult products. Instead, it said it would “avoid use of formaldehyde releasers in adult products whenever possible.”

Last year, Johnson & Johnson told the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics that it had already removed phthalates, potentially hazardous chemicals already banned in toys and products for babies. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for many other personal care product and toy manufacturers.

Want to learn more about the brand’s efforts to reduce toxic chemicals? There’s a website for that. “Known as Our Safety & Care Commitment, we created a website, www.safetyandcarecommitment.com, dedicated to helping consumers better understand how we ensure the safety of beauty and baby care products and the ingredients that go into them. Consumers can view our ingredient policies and learn about the rigorous scientific standards of our five-level safety assurance process,” states a Johnson & Johnson press release.

NPR.org also has a great chart that breaks down the company’s new policies on baby and beauty products.

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Are dangerous chemical toxins hiding in your personal care products? Thanks to a new cosmetics database released by The California Safe Cosmetics Program, it only takes a few clicks to find out.

Crazy as it might seem, a large portion of the personal care products sold in America contain ingredients known or suspected to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. These toxins have nearly unpronounceable names and are hidden inside shampoos, lotions, make-up and other products we slather all over our bodies on a daily basis.

To help consumers become more informed about what they’re being exposed to, The California Safe Cosmetics Program (CSCP) has created an online cosmetics database that makes it simple to find out if your favorite lipstick is putting you at risk for a life threatening disease.

“Searches can be done on a type of product, a specific product name, or a brand, chemical or company name. About 475 companies have submitted information for about 30,000 products so far, and the chemicals in the database include phthalates, mercury and mercury compounds, toluene and formaldehyde, among other known toxicants,” reports SF Gate.

Creators of the cosmetics database point out that just because a product contains a potentially harmful ingredient, it’s not necessarily a risk. Manufacturers are required to report the presence of a chemical, even if it’s only trace amounts.  Some chemicals are considered safe at certain levels of exposure. Although amount of ingredient is not listed on the website, it’s important to consider not just the levels of a single exposure, but cumulative exposure over a lifetime.

Encouragingly, the cosmetics database also contains information about about each of the chemical ingredients, and how chemical exposure can affects consumer health. Some health advocates say this website is an important tool for consumers that will continue the fight for safer cosmetics.

“The database reveals a snapshot of a Wild West industry where cosmetics companies can and are using a shocking array of unsafe and cancer-causing chemicals in seemingly innocent products,”  Janet Nudelman, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which is part of the Breast Cancer Fund, told SF Gate. “It will also keep the pressure on companies to reformulate products to remove chemicals linked to adverse health effects.”

Learn more about what’s in your cosmetics and personal care products at: www.safecosmeticsact.org

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Retail giant Walmart announced that it is eliminating a list of 10 toxic chemicals from beauty, personal care, and cleaning products. Suppliers will need to provide the retailer with a list of their ingredients to ensure that none of the chemicals make it to the shelves.

This move follows a surprising announcement last month by Proctor & Gamble Co., the world’s largest producer of  personal care and cleaning products, that it will ban phthalates, triclosan, formaldehydes, and parabens from its products.

“Walmart’s decision to banish cosmetics and cleaners made with toxic chemicals will revolutionize the marketplace and help all of us live better by making safer products the new normal,” said Janet Nudelman, Director of Program and Policy for the Breast Cancer Fund and co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, in a press release.

“Kudos to Walmart for responding to growing consumer demand for cosmetics, shampoos, lotions, make-up and cleaners that don’t contain chemicals that are harmful to our health,” said Nudelman. “Eliminating as many as ten toxic chemicals from Walmart’s inventory is a big step forward, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. We know there are many more dangerous chemicals linked to breast cancer and reproductive harm that should be removed from products, and both the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Breast Cancer Fund look forward to working with Walmart to ensure all of the cosmetics and personal care products they sell are safe for everyone.”

Walmart will be developing an overall policy regarding toxic chemicals which may involve additional chemicals to those that are already set for removal. Although Walmart hasn’t yet commented on what 10 chemicals will be banned, experts say that triclosan will likely be on the list. The list will be based on environmental sustainability and chemicals that have safer alternatives easily available.

“Wal-Mart’s policy signals a new era of going beyond regulatory compliance to reduce the use of hazardous chemicals,” said Mark Rossi, co-director of Clean Production Action, a nonprofit organization that designs tools to help companies make their products chemically greener on Huffington Post. “Companies like Wal-Mart are realizing they need to be proactive instead of reactive to the rapidly increasing consumer demand for safer products.”

The announcement was made at Walmart’s annual meeting on sustainability.

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