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What's in the Bath Water With My Baby?
by Christopher Gavigan
There's something indescribable about bath time: the way a small child looks glistening wet, the smell of his damp hair, the sound of giggles and splashing against the acoustics of ceramic tile. It's a bit enchanting.
I was immersed in the contentedness of it all the other night as I sat by the tub watching my son. Like usual, he was hypnotizing himself with the motion of water by repeatedly filling a wooden bowl and slowly pouring the water out. Inevitably, he stops to take a drink. Like many toddlers, he loves drinking his bath water. I've watched him do it countless times, but this time the proverbial light bulb went on.
We're so careful about what we feed him and the beverages we choose, but somehow this innocent moment of ingestion had never crossed my mind. Bath time is about purity and cleanliness. Since we use natural and non-toxic bath wash and shampoos, we had nothing else to worry about, right? Unfortunately, no.
First of all, and perhaps the most obvious fact is that, while American tap water is some of the cleanest in the world (depending on where you live and whether you are drawing from a public source or a private well), there can still be contamination. An Environmental Working Group study of national tap water quality in 2005 found more than 140 contaminants with no enforceable safety limits.
Secondly, drinking the bath water is not the only way your child may be exposed to contaminants in it. As the water evaporates (and this is much more of a concern for showers), your child can inhale contaminants. In fact, according to the American Chemical Society, "we could receive from 6 to 100 times more chlorine by breathing the air around showers and baths than we could by drinking water." Also, your skin is porous (and especially so in warm water which opens up pores), so dermal absorption is another route for contaminants to find their way into your child's body.
If you've cleaned your tub recently with a conventional cleanser, and you haven't rinsed it well enough, chemical residues can end up becoming a part of your baby's bath water (which as you can guess by now – can end up being absorbed, inhaled, or ingested by your baby). So, skip the tough stuff and get a natural shine by either buying non-toxic cleaners or using simple ingredients like vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice.
So the next time your little one jumps in the tub for her nightly scrub-a-dub, keep it even cleaner by filtering your water (or at the very least – discouraging your child from drinking it). There are great small bath filters that can hang from the tub's nozzle that remover chlorine and other water contaminants. Be sure to use natural and non-toxic bath products and lotions. And finally, after they are all clean and jump into a fluffy towel – well, what was it cleaned with? Avoid those harsh conventional laundry cleaners, opt for non-toxic softeners and dryer sheets, and skip the chlorine bleach.
Now where's our PVC-free yellow duckie hiding?
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I was immersed in the contentedness of it all the other night as I sat by the tub watching my son. Like usual, he was hypnotizing himself with the motion of water by repeatedly filling a wooden bowl and slowly pouring the water out. Inevitably, he stops to take a drink. Like many toddlers, he loves drinking his bath water. I've watched him do it countless times, but this time the proverbial light bulb went on.
We're so careful about what we feed him and the beverages we choose, but somehow this innocent moment of ingestion had never crossed my mind. Bath time is about purity and cleanliness. Since we use natural and non-toxic bath wash and shampoos, we had nothing else to worry about, right? Unfortunately, no.
First of all, and perhaps the most obvious fact is that, while American tap water is some of the cleanest in the world (depending on where you live and whether you are drawing from a public source or a private well), there can still be contamination. An Environmental Working Group study of national tap water quality in 2005 found more than 140 contaminants with no enforceable safety limits.
Secondly, drinking the bath water is not the only way your child may be exposed to contaminants in it. As the water evaporates (and this is much more of a concern for showers), your child can inhale contaminants. In fact, according to the American Chemical Society, "we could receive from 6 to 100 times more chlorine by breathing the air around showers and baths than we could by drinking water." Also, your skin is porous (and especially so in warm water which opens up pores), so dermal absorption is another route for contaminants to find their way into your child's body.
If you've cleaned your tub recently with a conventional cleanser, and you haven't rinsed it well enough, chemical residues can end up becoming a part of your baby's bath water (which as you can guess by now – can end up being absorbed, inhaled, or ingested by your baby). So, skip the tough stuff and get a natural shine by either buying non-toxic cleaners or using simple ingredients like vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice.
So the next time your little one jumps in the tub for her nightly scrub-a-dub, keep it even cleaner by filtering your water (or at the very least – discouraging your child from drinking it). There are great small bath filters that can hang from the tub's nozzle that remover chlorine and other water contaminants. Be sure to use natural and non-toxic bath products and lotions. And finally, after they are all clean and jump into a fluffy towel – well, what was it cleaned with? Avoid those harsh conventional laundry cleaners, opt for non-toxic softeners and dryer sheets, and skip the chlorine bleach.
Now where's our PVC-free yellow duckie hiding?
Related Topics:
16 Comments:
After reading about the dangers of plastics and food especially in the microwave, I wonder why so many frozen vegetables are packaged and sold as 'Steamers'
I wonder about the safety there and will not buy them.
People go too far with this "natural" lifestyle. Filtering your bathwater? Seriously? Let's all live in a sterile plastic bubble. Oh wait. The plastic isn't safe anymore. Now what are we going to do?
really? i swear this world gets crazier by the minute...
wow... if something were to happen to our children from drinking bath water... than it was probably meant to be. Our parents washed us with much more harmful products which are not on the market anymore... Hey i'm still here! If it happens than it was meant to be! Stop stressing about these silly facts just live your life, what are we going to keep our kids in organic cages next or what?
Unbelievable. I guess before I should take my kids outside I should put helmets, knee pads, and a plastic wrap protective coating around them. And that's before I make sure I secure them in their booster seat in the back until they're 13.
Babies and toddlers put WAY worse things in their mouth while we're not looking, never mind a little bath water.
I filtered my baby's bath water until she was about 9 months old. Our water supply is not what it was 20 years ago and there are far more contaminants these days. You can learn a lot on EWG website too. That company has changed the way I live. I appreciate this article and was suprised to see such an article on Web MD!
OMG! I don't filter my child's bath water! Whatever will I do! We survived with tap water. I think our kids will too.
Science and facts state the real truth not what you here or see. Education breeds truth. I am tired of the so-called "know it alls" that spend a couple of hours researching municiple water facts. They know nothing. The truth is Government and Big businesses are the best marketers in the world they are experts on ways to make the common folk believe in what they want them to believe. It takes money to make people believe what they are conditioned to believe. FACE THE TRUE FACTS. The US municiple water supply runs through 20,50,100, year old pipes with sludge and contaminants working thier way into our drinking water. Most of you are right. Your children and you may never get sick BUT if you REALLY educate yourself on tap water you will realize it has more contaminated, harmful, impure,tainted,bacteria than you would ever imagine. Face the facts, every american drinks tap water and baths in it. Research the facts per-capita the US has more fatal diseases in 2009 than ever before. Reasearch the facts... every year since 1947 even with our great educational systems there is more diseased humans per capita then ever documented. Your all wrong and not educated on water. You all believe what you choose without educating yourself. WE DRINK THE WORST TAP WATER EVER and it only gets worse. Old pipes, old systems, children with ADD, autism, allergies, diebeties, obesity you name it. Is it the food?? The majority says so. LETS FACE THE FACTS our bodies are over 70% water meaning over 70% of our genetic makeup is dependent on PURE water. When our water breaks down we break down... Last but not least educate yourself on humans that live the longest without disease... you will find they all consume natural water from the earth that is the highest in the world of Natural Minerals the buliding block of Life... sorry for the long winded comment.
Thank you for opening the eyes of so many people who are not aware of these dangers. We are not meant to live with all of this chemical crap. People do not realize that being exposed to this in tiny doses for an extended period of time has the potential to do so much damage, most of which we are not even aware of yet. I know a family that makes a giant pitcher of iced tea out of tap water and downs it all each day. Yes, they are still alive, but let's just check back on that situation a few decades down the road.
Honestly, I can't believe you're worried about your baby bathing in the water but not the fact that the baby would be ingesting dirty bath water, filtered or not.
It is very interesting for me to read that post. Thank you for it. I like such themes and everything connected to this matter. I would like to read a bit more on that blog soon.
me people just don't get it. They don't realize the importance ( or they are simply ignorant) of what people are trying to tell us and keep us informed. This world that we live in now ( not the one our fathers and grandfathers lived in) is way too scientific, to say the least. Times have changed and it is up to us to be well-informed. The government is not going to tell you everything!! You be the judge.
It is up to you if you want to be ignorant or not!
My son graduated from an infant tub to the shower. I never have a problem with him drinking the water. If you worried about your child drinking the bath tub water then have your child take a shower. Besides, the children are going to be exposed to stuff in their daily life.
People who say don't stress about what's exposed to our children are ignorant and are just too lazy to protect their children. Yes we were exposed to many things when we were young and we're fine now but that was then and this is now. There are so many more contaminants in the environment now then there was back then. The world was cleaner back then and we are destroying it.
BTW, try GPS jammer to disable all secret devices in your home or at work.
How dare you think I'm lazy or ignorant because I don't give two hoots about bath water. There are children in this world who don't even have clean enough water to drink. Do you think their parents are wringing their hands over bath water? We live in a country where we can drink tap water, so let's start worrying about things that REALLY matter. Plus, get a life.
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