How to Choose a Diaper Cream Without Harmful Chemicals - Consumer Reports

Diaper creams are used to prevent or treat diaper rash. Some creams are designed to moisturize and protect the skin by creating a barrier that prevents breakouts. Other creams contain active ingredients that treat active cases of diaper rash.

Regardless of their intended use, these products may contain ingredient lists that are difficult to decipher, making it difficult to know whether you are choosing the right option for your baby's specific needs as well as a safer or more sustainable product.

To prevent diaper rash, a cream only needs ingredients that moisturize and protect the skin, ingredients such as vegetable oils, butters and waxes. And to treat active diaper rash due to irritation, a cream containing the active ingredient zinc oxide is ideal for your toolbox.

To make it easier for you, we've identified three important things to keep in mind when checking product labels.

Mineral oil, petroleum jelly, and paraffin: These ingredients, all byproducts of the refining process to produce gasoline and other petroleum products, can create a barrier on the skin that locks in moisture. Identifying mineral oil, petroleum jelly and paraffin on labels can be difficult because their names are often incorrectly used interchangeably. And the three ingredients may have other names, such as: B. white mineral oil, liquid paraffin, petroleum jelly, etc.

The degree of refining of mineral oil, petroleum jelly and paraffin indicates their quality and is also an indicator of certain health problems. In fact, during the manufacturing process, these ingredients can become contaminated with substances called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), some of which have been linked to cancer. The good news is that when fully and properly refined, PAH contamination is low and health problems decrease. The bad news is that companies that make cosmetics or personal care products are currently not required to use ingredients derived from fully refined petroleum, and labels typically don't make it clear whether this is the case.

Although these ingredients are highly refined and free of contaminants, they come with other problems. Canada and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency note that mineral oil is not biodegradable. Vaseline is classified as non-biodegradable in Canada and a reproductive poison in Australia. And Amy Ziff, founder of Made Safe, says: "The use of these chemicals raises another question: Do we want to maintain the use of petroleum-derived ingredients in a world threatened by climate change?

Given the potential problems and lack of transparency surrounding these ingredients, we recommend avoiding them. Instead, look for products that contain moisturizing and protective ingredients such as plant-based butters and oils, as well as beeswax and plant-based waxes.

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