PORTSMOUTH, NH - Two weeks ago, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics released a national report, about unregulated cancer-causing chemicals found in bath, personal care and baby products. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which is supported by Clean Water Fund, has been working to test for toxic chemicals in products like lotion, deodorant, bubble bath, perfume, toothpaste, lipstick, and many more. This new report found high levels of both formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane in 17 different baby products, including Johnson's Baby Shampoo, Sesame Street Bubble Bath, and Huggies Refreshing Cucumber & Green Tea baby wash.

Due to so much national and international media buzz about the release of "Toxic Tub" report, some major Chinese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese retailers have pulled these products from their shelves. The governments of China and Vietnam are conducting their own safety tests on some baby bath products found to be contaminated with formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane. Many parents here in the U.S. are concerned as well, and wonder when the FDA will begin stricter regulations on these products.

To help raise public and consumer awareness about toxic chemical safety in widely used personal care products and provide information about safer alternatives, Clean Water Action New Hampshire organized an event Saturday at Eastern Mountain Sports in Portsmouth. This is the third event of its kind this month, following events in both Manchester and Nashua, where Clean Water Action has already talked to over 100 Granite Staters about safer alternatives.

On Saturday, a steady stream of people came to the half-day long event, some bringing their own personal care items to research their products' safety rating in the "Skin Deep" online database. On display was a wide selection of every day products commonly found at most drug store, each labeled with their chemical safety rating from the "Skin Deep" database. With 10 being the worst offender score -- a tube of bright red Revlon lipstick, in "Chinaglaze Red," got a score of 9, while Almay's Hypoallergenic Clear Gel Fragrance Free antiperspirant received a score of 1.

Participants were able to walk away with a few lower-rated product samples**, as well as a "safe shopping guide" for future purchases. Clean Water Action, with 27,000 members statewide, is also working to collect 2,000 petition signatures to deliver to public officials, urging them to support more effective regulations of chemicals in personal care products.

"While informing consumers and finding safer alternatives is an important step, we can't just shop our way out of the problem", said Sarah Holzgraf, Campaign Organizer for Clean Water Action. "We also need health-focused laws that ensure all of us have affordable and available personal care product choices that are free from toxic chemicals," Holzgraf said.

To research your own products, visit the Skin Deep database at www.cosmeticsdatabase.org and read the full report at www.safecosmetics.org/toxictub.