Tests Indicate Toxins In Some Baby Products; Companies, FDA Disagree

One group said it wants to warn parents about traces of possible cancer-causing substances in some baby products.

The companies that make those products were fighting back, calling the report cynical, shameful and patently false.

The study involved two substances: formaldehyde and dioxane.

NBC's Tracie Potts reported on BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said it's worried about the health effects of some of the ingredients in baby products.

The campaign, the environmental group behind the consumer campaign, has done lots of studies on chemicals in personal-care products.

Formaldehyde is a preservative. It's in the air we breathe and even can be released from some cooked vegetables.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also calls formaldehyde a possible carcinogen.

Europe, Canada and Japan regulate formaldehyde in cosmetics. The United States doesn't.

The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) said it doesn't believe it poses enough risk.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 28 children's toiletries -- major brands -- and found small amounts of formaldehyde in 23 of them.

"It's a big problem, and parents need to really be careful what they buy for their kids," the Environmental Working Group's Jane Houlihan said.

The campaign also tested for the manufacturing byproduct 1,4-Dioxane and found trace amounts in two-thirds of these products.

1,4-Dioxane is primarily used in solvent applications for the manufacturing sector; however, it is also found in fumigants and automotive coolant.

1,4-Dioxane is a known eye and respiratory tract irritant. It is suspected of causing damage to the central nervous system, liver and kidneys.

Neither formaldehyde nor dioxane are listed on ingredient labels.

"It's infuriating they're not better regulated," mother Shawn Bader-Blau said.

Cosmetic companies said Bader-Blau and other parents need not worry.

The companies claim -- and the FDA agrees -- these substances pose no risk in trace amounts.

The industry's top scientist used to run the FDA's cosmetics program.

He said the report is misleading.

"They're really throwing out hazards but not talking about what that means in everyday context," Dr. John Bailey said.

Bailey is with the Personal Care Products Association.

"The old saying is, 'Dose makes the poison.' They're talking about the poison but not the dose," he said.

It's tough for parents who are concerned for their babies' safety.

To find products without dioxane or formaldehyde, one almost has to be a chemist, checking labels for a long list of ingredients that can create those chemicals.

The FDA has monitored dioxane in cosmetics since the 70s and told NBC it actually has seen a "significant decline" in personal-care products over the last few decades.

Click here to find out if the products you use were included in the study.

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