Are your children safe in the tub?

My Mom recently e-mailed me an article from health.usnews.com. It is discussing a study on common baby washes, shampoos, and lotions. The study showed a large majority of products tested contained the chemicals formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane. It goes on to say that these have both been linked to cancer. As a parent I was shocked that these chemicals and known carcinogens are legally in products used on your family's skin. I was also disapointed with the article's lack of information about the different products tested and the risks involved with using these products. There were 28 products tested and only 5 named?? I looked for more information since this article was lacking in some pretty important areas. At least in my opinion.

I ran across this article by The Washington Post. It is a little more helpful but still does not answer all of my questions. According to the Washington Post there is "Modest Risk From Children's Toiletries". Then they said that these chemicals have not been tested to find out their risks as a carcinogen when used on the skin. This quote from the article really made me wonder. "FDA has not concluded, based on risk assessment, that the products containing these substances are injurious under intended conditions of use," said Linda M. Katz, director of FDA's office of cosmetics and colors. So, basically you (the FDA) have no idea if these products are safe or not but you think they might be so you continue to allow them to be sold to parents for use on innocent children!

I want more information before I feel safe using many of the "cleaning" products on the shelves at most stores. I am sticking to natural handmade items. Please let me know if you know of any helpful articles that discuss this in more detail.

What do you think about these articles? Do you buy any of the products listed? Will you still use them?