Baby Wash Now Linked to False Positive Marijuana Results in Newborn Drug Screens

I was surprised to read in the news that some commonly used baby wash products have produced false positive marijuana results on newborn drug screens.  A study was recently published in the journal Clinical Biochemistry which found this link.  The danger of having a false positive result is it can cause social services to get involved in cases where there is suspected drug use by the mother while pregnant.

The soaps which were studied that caused a false-positive result were:  Johnson & Johnson’s Bedtime Bath, CVS Night-Time Baby Bath, Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Creamy Wash and Aveeno Baby Wash & Shampoo.  "Researchers also tested ingredients used widely in soaps and shampoos, including polyquaternium-11 and cocamidopropyl betaine, which both elicited positive marijuana test results.  So far, there is no explanation as to why the chemicals interfere with the test's function, but importantly, they aren't intoxicating; they don't cause symptoms of marijuana exposure in children. The researchers think minute amounts of the substances were simply washing off the babies' skin into their urine samples and confounding the screens."

“Our findings in this study drive home the point that confirmation by more sophisticated methods such as mass spectrometry should be considered before moving ahead with interventions such as child social services or child abuse allegations, which may be false, “ said co-author Carl J. Seashore, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at UNC and director of the Newborn Nursery.  “We wrote this paper to inform care providers and laboratory medicine people in hospitals that this issue is out there and that positive urine screens for THC need to be confirmed.”

This is just another reason for me to not use Johnson and Johnson's baby shampoo.  A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about toxic baby shampoo.   While in this instance, it does no harm to the baby, this is yet more chemicals that may cause issues (although indirectly) for my baby.  I took pictures of the two bottles of Johnson and Johnson's baby wash that I had and they both contained cocamidopropyl betaine.

Toxic Baby Shampoo?

Another topic that I have been meaning to write about is in regards to "toxic" baby shampoo.  Back in November, I had read several news articles from the Huffington Post and Forbes.com regarding "toxic" baby shampoo.  These articles were based on a report released on November 1, 2011 by the group, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which found that Johnson and Johnson's Baby Shampoo contained a preservative called quaternium-15.  This chemical acts as a preservative by killing bacteria by releasing formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is considered a known carcinogen (meaning "any substance or agent that tends to produce cancer") by groups such as the National Cancer Institute and the World Health Organization. Also, according to an article published in the Dermatologist, quaternium-15 is the "most common cause of cosmetic preservative allergy in the United States."

Unfortunately, Johnson and Johnson is probably aware of this issue since they have stopped using this preservative in their products in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and Japan.  This preservative is still being used in products sold in the United States, Canada, China, Indonesia and Australia.  When this report came out in November, many groups advocated for a boycott of Johnson and Johnson's products.  As a result, the company released a statement stating that they "have been phasing out the use of preservatives that release tiny amounts of formaldehyde to guard against bacterial contamination."  Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that this preservative has been "phased out" in the United States at this time.

Naturally, after reading about this back in November, I immediately began looking at the labels of the Johnson and Johnson's baby products that I have.  To my horror, the "Calming Lavender" shampoo that I had been using on my baby contained this preservative!

As you can tell by the pictures, I had used quite a bit of this stuff and it was not the first bottle that I had bought.  I immediately began thinking about all of the other products that I have been using on my baby.  There probably is only a small risk of something truly bad happening to my child and there have been literally thousands of people that have used this product without any adverse effects.  However, why would I continue to use a product that contains this ingredient when there are many more out there which do not?  Also, why would I support a company by buying their products when they selectively "clean up" their product for certain countries and not others?

The Environmental Working Group has a great database that you can use to search for baby shampoos (or lotions, soaps or sunscreen [which I mentioned in an earlier post]).  The purpose of this database is to help people "find safer products with fewer ingredients that are hazardous or have not been thoroughly tested."  I now go to this database when selecting products for myself and baby.  I have also become more aware of reading the ingredients on a label before purchasing a product.