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Groups push J&J on baby shampoo chemicals

 TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Two chemicals considered harmful to babies remain in Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo sold in the U.S., even though the company already makes versions without them, according to a coalition of health and environmental groups.

This file photo shows Johnson's
This file photo shows Johnson's "No More Tears," baby shampoo in Philadelphia. Johnson & Johnson posts a 6 percent decline in third-quarter profit, as larger overhead and production costs and a one-time charge offset higher foreign sales. (AP-Yonhap News)

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has unsuccessfully been urging the world's largest health care company for 2 1/2 years to remove the trace amounts of potentially cancer-causing chemicals — dioxane and a substance called quaternium-15 that releases formaldehyde — from Johnson's Baby Shampoo, one of its signature products.

Johnson & Johnson said it is reducing or gradually phasing out the chemicals, but did not respond directly to the campaign's demands.

Now the group is ratcheting up the pressure and urging consumers to boycott Johnson & Johnson baby products until the company agrees to remove the chemicals from its baby products sold around the world.

"Johnson & Johnson clearly can make safer baby shampoo in all the markets around the world, but it's not doing it," said Lisa Archer, director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. "It's clearly a double standard, something they can easily fix."

The campaign's new report, "Baby's Tub is Still Toxic," is set to be released Tuesday, when the group was launching the boycott via its Web site, http://www.safecosmetics.org.

Archer said her group has met with Johnson & Johnson representatives three times since spring 2009, and is disappointed the company is not making safer baby shampoo and other products in the U.S. when it does elsewhere.

On Monday, the campaign sent Johnson & Johnson a letter, signed by about 25 environmental, medical and other groups representing about 3.5 million people in the U.S. and other countries. It urges the company to publicly commit by Nov. 15 to removing the chemicals from all personal care products worldwide.

In response, Johnson & Johnson said in a statement that formaldehyde-releasing preservatives are safe and approved by regulators in the U.S. and other countries, but that it is gradually phasing them out of its baby products. It said it is also reformulating baby products to reduce the level of dioxane below detectable levels. But it did not say whether it would respond to or meet the campaign's full demands.

The letter, addressed to CEO William Weldon, was signed by groups including the Breast Cancer Fund, Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth, American Nurses Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility and Green America.

"Even though the chemicals may be low-level, why risk it?" said Tracey J. Woodruff, an associate professor and director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at University of California-San Francisco.

Woodruff, who is not involved in the campaign, noted that the chemical levels in the baby products add to other chemicals infants are exposed to every day.

According to the report, obtained by The Associated Press, one of the suspect chemicals, quaternium-15, is a preservative that kills bacteria by releasing formaldehyde. Formaldehyde, used as a disinfectant and embalming fluid, was declared a known human carcinogen this past June by the U.S. National Toxicology Program. Formaldehyde also is a skin, eye and respiratory irritant.

Quaternium-15 is still an ingredient on Johnson & Johnson's Baby Shampoo sold in the U.S., Canada, China, Indonesia and Australia, but the campaign's research this summer found it's not in the same product sold in at least eight other countries, from the U.K. and Denmark to Japan and South Africa.

The second chemical, 1,4-dioxane, is considered a likely carcinogen. It's a byproduct of a process for making chemicals more soluble and gentler on the skin.

The campaign's May 2009 report, called "No More Toxic Tub," stated that studies by an independent laboratory it hired, Analytical Sciences LLC of Petaluma, Calif., found that 1,4-dioxane was contained in Johnson & Johnson's Baby Shampoo, Oatmeal Baby Wash, Moisture Care Baby Wash and Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Creamy Wash.

According to the report, the company has since launched a baby shampoo called Johnson's Naturals, sold in the U.S., that does not include 1,4-dioxane. But original Johnson's baby shampoo, which costs about half as much, has not been reformulated for the U.S. market, according to the campaign.

Analytical Sciences tested multiple J&J baby product samples from the U.S. for the first report, finding low levels of the chemicals. After that, according to Archer, consumer groups in South Africa, Sweden and Japan contacted her group to note that quaternium-15 was not being used in products in their countries. The updated report was based on an examination of label ingredients for Johnson & Johnson baby products in 13 countries.

Archer noted that some of the countries where the products did not contain the harsh chemicals had bans on them in personal care products, but others didn't.

Woodruff, who researches health effects of chemicals, said there is evidence that formaldehyde is associated with nose, lung and blood cancers such as leukemia. She said an infant's scalp is more permeable than and adult's, so exposure to the chemicals could cause more harm for babies than adults.

"You're exposing a child during a very vulnerable period of development, when the effect may be worse," Woodruff said.

 

<한글 기사>

존슨즈 베이비샴푸 발암물질 함유에도 계속 판매

존슨앤드존슨(J&J)사가 영아에게 유해한 발암물질이 함유된 샴푸를 미국 등 일부 국가에서 여전히 판매하는 것으로 드러났다.

특히 J&J사가 발암물질을 제거한 신제품 샴푸를 개발해 이미 시판 중임에도 유해물질이 함유된 기존 제품을 회수하지 않고, 신제품보다 저렴한 가격에 판매하고 있다는 점에서 소비자 단체의 거센 비난을 받고 있다.

미국 소비자 단체인 '안전한 화장품을 위한 캠페인(CSC)'은 1일(현지시간) 발표 될 보고서에서, 전 세계 13개국에서 판매 중인 J&J사의 영아용 제품 성분표를 분석한 결과 이 같은 사실이 드러났다고 밝혔다.

CSC는 J&J사의 대표 상품 가운데 하나인 존슨즈 베이비샴푸에 발암물질인 1,4- 다이옥산과 쿼터늄-15 성분이 미량 포함돼 있다면서, J&J사가 두 성분을 해당 상품 에서 완전히 제거하겠다고 약속할 때까지 불매운동을 펼쳐야 한다고 주장했다.

CSC에 따르면 쿼터늄-15가 들어간 존슨즈 베이비샴푸가 판매된 국가는 미국, 캐 나다, 중국, 인도네시아, 호주 등이다.

그러나 일본, 영국, 덴마크 등 8개국에서 시판된 샴푸에는 같은 제품임에도 해당 성분이 함유되지 않았다.

문제의 쿼터늄-15는 발암물질로 규정된 폼알데하이드 성분으로 박테리아를 죽이는 방부제의 일종이다.

또 J&J사가 1,4-다이옥산을 포함하지 않은 신제품 '존슨즈 네츄럴'을 이미 시판 중임에도, 유해물질이 함유된 기존의 제품을 신제품 가격의 절반 수준으로 판매하고 있다고 CSC는 지적했다.

이에 CSC는 지난달 31일 환경과 의료단체 25개의 서명이 담긴 항의 편지를 윌리 엄 웰든 J&J 최고경영자(CEO)에게 발송했다.

이 서한에서 CSC는 목욕용품을 포함해 J&J사가 생산하는 모든 개인 생활용품에서 쿼터늄-15와 1,4-다이옥산 성분을 없앨 것을 오는 15일까지 공개적으로 약속하라 고 요구했다.

이에 대해 J&J사 측은 1,4-다이옥산 함유량을 대폭 줄인 제품을 새로 개발 중이며, 쿼터늄-15의 경우 당국으로부터 안전하다는 평가를 받았지만 점차 줄여나가겠다 고 약속했다.
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