A lot of parents around the globe were shocked when they discovered that the No More Tears baby shampoo produced by Johnson & Johnson includes formaldehyde, which is a cancer-causing compound and it is famous for its use in embalming dead bodies.
Formaldehyde is extremely flammable and has a very sharp odor. It is in liquid form and is used in numerous different products like building materials, cleaning solutions, fabrics, glue, paper products and insulation materials. It has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and disinfectant characteristics.
What is the connecting between formaldehyde and cancer? Is it dangerous as people believe? Even though the long-term research on formaldehyde hasn’t been finished, there are few indicators that prove it is a carcinogen or cancer-causing ingredient.
It was marked as carcinogen by the U.S. government. The EPA labeled it as a cancer-causing ingredient back in 1987.
There are lots of researches that prove its cancer-causing properties in both mice and humans and studies of people that use embalming fluid like embalmers have proved that they have a higher rate of cancer than any other group. Therefore, it is clear that formaldehyde is a powerful carcinogenic agent.
Johnson & Johnson Scandal
The company claims that the levels of formaldehyde aren’t high enough to be harmful for people-even the babies. Although, it is well known fact that it is included in the No More Tears baby shampoo.
Nowadays, the company eliminates the formaldehyde from this shampoo and one hundred other products that they are producing as well.
It is definitely a good decision to get rid of it from the products, but what happens when we ask them why it hasn’t been removed before?
This harmful ingredient isn’t essential for producing these products since the company has a formula without formaldehyde.
Although, this is suspicious because it occurred when the state of California passed a law that obligates the cosmetic manufacturers to unveil more than 160 chemical ingredients that can be harmful for our health, which had been kept in secret.
Johnson & Johnson isn’t the only company that adds dangerous ingredients in their products. There are advocates that battle against other cosmetic manufacturers because it was shown in some independent researches that these companies still use dangerous ingredients in their products.
Johnson & Johnson claims that they will spend tens of millions of dollars in order to make the required modifications. So, the real question is if other companies will be able to obey the law, or if they couldn’t afford the expenses.