In Which I Single-Handedly Fix The World

If you're looking for something to do on this Monday morning, why not visit the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Database and look up some of the personal care products you use on your baby (or yourself, for that matter). Wipes, sunscreens, soaps... go ahead. If it doesn't terrify you, then you have nerves of steel, my friend.

Now, let's not jump into a discussion of whether Moms should or shouldn't let these health concerns get under their skin (pun intended!)... I'm not about passing judgement over parenting decisions. Unless of course I see you cruising down the road with your baby in your lap a la Britney Spears, in which case I reserve the right to call you a moron. Maybe even to your face. But definitely behind your back to my other Mommy friends.

My point is this: the market is CHOCK FULL of products, for babies and adults alike, that contain far too many seriously hazardous chemicals. We can try to ignore it and downplay it, but unfortunately it's a fact of life. Revolutions in chemistry have yielded an amazing array of different compounds that help to make our lives easier, from preservatives that keep our foods safe to detergents that keep our homes clean to components that make sunscreens easier to apply (in hopes that more people will wear sunscreen appropriately, thereby reducing the incidence of skin cancer - certainly a noble goal). Whatever the new-and-improve-ment, you can bet that there's a chemical component that was developed to make it possible, and that there was much rejoicing upon its discovery. Our lives have been chemicalized gradually, and probably with the best of intentions - usually to make some product easier to use, more pleasant, or otherwise "better".

Not all "chemicals" are toxic (just as not all "naturally derived" compounds are safe). I really hate the way that people toss around the term "chemical" in such a derogatory sense, given the fact that all of nature is composed of chemicals. EVERYTHING is chemical - you yourself are a vibrant pool of chemical reactions. It's the synthetic chemicals that we worry about, and again, not all synthetic chemicals are inherently harmful. Certainly, though, there's plenty to be concerned about. It seems that just about every class of consumable has its short list (or perhaps a long list, in many cases!) of concerning ingredients.

From the relatively recent spike in concern over (and research into) the safety of synthetic compounds that we use daily, particularly on the tiniest members of our society, has sprung a relatively small market of "naturally derived", "organic", and "(insert concerning chemical name)-free" products. This is a fabulous thing - capitalism at work. A new demand develops, and a supply springs up to fulfill the demand, opening up entrepreneurial opportunities and creating jobs and spurring scientific inquiry and bettering our society.

Slowly but surely a new market is developing, but for now it remains a market of "specialty products". This is where I perceive a huge problem. So long as these more natural, less toxic products remain a "specialty" they will remain exorbitantly priced, leaving concerned moms like myself to agonize over the financial commitment to "go green(er)". Families are always looking to save money on consumables that must be replenished regularly, making these less toxic products particularly difficult to afford.


Quick aside: it's obviously not just moms that are concerned. Human beings in general ought to be concerned about their own exposures. The smaller body mass of babies and young children, though, means higher exposure levels per pound and therefore closer-to-toxic levels of accumulation in their tissues. 


Enter: "Mommy Guilt". As if we don't judge ourselves (and each other) enough as it is - particularly given the biological imperative that we feel to care for and protect our families - we are now being dealt yet another thing that we "should really" do something about. But what if we just don't have the money? How do we make the choice to "be cheap" when it comes to the safety of our families? Should we be forced to cut corners in other areas so that we can afford products that our actually safe for our children to use?

Here's my solution: STEP IN, FDA!!! DO SOMETHING!!! If, as a society, we made the choice to value product safety above all else and held companies more strictly accountable, I believe that a positive chain reaction would ensue. Yes, it is more expensive to develop new products that use naturally-derived (and therefore more supply-limited) ingredients. However, if all producers were forced to eliminate cheap toxic ingredients and find safer alternatives, market competition would eventually drive down the cost. And even if production costs remained relatively high and product prices followed suit, if all of these products on the market got expensive, the general cost of living would be increased and in turn wages would be forced to increase. Inflation sucks, but  if it's relatively uniform across the board it could help us all to afford to use safer products in our homes.

Of course, I'm no business woman. I'm not an economist, either. I'm sure that my skeleton "plan" is full of flaws. But I can't help but feel that this is, like many societal issues, a matter of values. If we made safety a top priority at the highest levels of society, things would change. This isn't a matter of government controlling our lives and forcing us to use "organic" products - it's a matter of government doing its job as a protector of the public. We rely on expert institutions like the FDA to do their due diligence, so that we don't have to become chemists in order to make safe choices at the supermarket. Remove these toxic ingredients from the shelves and big business might take a temporary hit, but big business can handle a right hook much better than my baby's immune system can handle formaldehyde. I'm SO tired of encouraging our government to protect big business at the expense of generations to come.