The ‘No More Tears’ Shampoo, Now With No Formaldehyde

By KATIE THOMASJAN. 17, 2014

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Johnson & Johnson's decision to reformulate its baby products is the first step in an effort to remove an array of increasingly unpopular chemicals from its personal care products. Laura Pedrick for The New York Times

SKILLMAN, N.J. — The only hint that something is different inside millions of bottles of Johnson’s Baby Shampoo arriving on store shelves are two words: “Improved Formula.”

The shampoo has the same amber hue, the same sudsy lather and — perhaps most important — the same familiar smell that, for generations of Americans, still conjures memories of childhood bath time.

What’s different about the shampoo, and 100 other baby products sold by Johnson & Johnson, isn’t so much about what’s been added; it’s what’s missing. The products no longer contain two potentially harmful chemicals, formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane, that have come under increasing scrutiny by consumers and environmental groups.

Revising a Formula for Baby Shampoo

Responding to pressure from consumers’ groups, Johnson & Johnson revised the ingredients in its baby shampoo to remove a formaldehyde-releasing preservative called quaternium-15.

Johnson’s No More Tears Baby Shampoo

OLD FORMULATION

Ingredients: Water, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate,

Sodium Trideceth Sulfate, PEG-150 Distearate, Fragrance, Tetrasodium EDTA,

Polyquaternium-10, Quaternium-15, Sodium Hydroxide, Citric Acid,

Yellow 10, Orange 4.

REMOVED:

Quaternium-15

a formaldehyde-releasing preservative

NEW FORMULATION

Ingredients: Water, PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine,

Sodium Trideceth Sulfate, PEG-150 Distearate, Phenoxyethanol, Glycerin,

Citric Acid, Fragrance, Sodium Benzoate, Tetrasodium EDTA,

Polyquaternium-10, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Hydroxide,

Potassium Acrylates Copolymer, Yellow 6, Yellow 10.

ADDED:

Potassium Acrylates

Copolymer

Phenoxyethanol, Sodium

Benzoate and Ethylhexylglycerin

Glycerin

helps with

moisturization

helps maintain proper

shampoo thickness

components of the new

preservative system

Even before their removal, customers would not have found formaldehyde or 1,4-dioxane listed on bottles because they aren’t technically ingredients.

Formaldehyde, which has been identified by government scientists as a carcinogen, is released over time by preservatives, like quaternium-15. And 1,4-dioxane, which has been linked to cancer in animal studies, is created during a process used to make other ingredients mild — important for a company that has sold billions of bottles of baby shampoo on its “No More Tears” claim.

Johnson & Johnson has removed the preservatives that release formaldehyde, and said it has reduced the levels of 1,4-dioxane to very limited trace amounts, from one to four parts per million.

Johnson & Johnson executives are quick to note that formaldehyde occurs naturally in many products — a person’s exposure to formaldehyde in an apple, they claim, is greater than it is in 15 bottles of baby shampoo. And 1,4-dioxane is found in their products at levels low enough to be safe.

But as the scientists set to work, they discovered that replacing the problem ingredients often led to a chain reaction of unintended consequences. One new preservative led to a snow-globe effect, with particles settling at the bottom of the bottle. But the fix for that turned the shampoo from a golden honey color to a dull brown. Another change turned the consistency to water.

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