Surprise! There Are Parabens (and Other Additives) in My Children’s Medications

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Surprise! There Are Parabens (and Other Additives) in My Children’s Medications

Guest Blogger

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Susan Hunt Stevens, Practically Green:

We’ve had the typical winter crud circulate through the house in the past week — ear infections, strep and various colds. We aren’t big over-the-counter medicine users, but we do rely on children’s acetaminophen and ibuprofen.

After four years of this “going healthy green thing,” I realized I had totally overlooked the medicine cabinet. Five minutes of reading labels and I was, well, stunned.

1. Parabens. Yup — those same ones I’ve been assiduously avoiding in my kids lotion because of concerns about potential endocrine disruption? I’ve been letting them eat the stuff. My kid’s medicine has butylparaben in it, which evidently affects the fertility of male rat offspring. I know… I know. Parabens are “Generally Recognized as Safe” by the FDA. According to the Chemical Encyclopedia on Healthychild.org however, parabens when ingested are “slightly toxic.” All I know is that I don’t want them in my medicine!

2. Artificial Colors. We try to avoid those too. I figure if warning labels about artificial colors went onto our European friend’s kids products, I’m avoiding them. As I was digging into the specifics of each color, I noted that one of the products contained Yellow #10, which isn’t ALLOWED in food, but is allowed in drugs?! Oh, but not in Europe. According to ColorCon,

“Currently, D&C Yellow #10 is approved for use in drugs and cosmetics but is not approved for food uses. This material is not acceptable for use in foods or drugs in Europe due to a difference in the specifications of the monosulfonated and disulfonated components of the dye.”

3. Sodium Benzoate. I had to do a little research to remember why this common preservative set off alarm bells, but oh yes – sodium benzoate mixed with artificial colors can lead to hyperactivity in children, mixed with ascorbic acid there is concern about benzene formation (a known carcinogen), and a UK scientist recently noted in a lab that it affected the mitocondria of DNA.

4. Propylene Glycol. This compound might be the most confusing of the bunch. The Environmental Working Group gives it a “moderate hazard” rating (4) when used in cosmetics, but doesn’t mention food. The ether version (PGE) has been linked to increased allergies. Even the Material Safety Data Sheet says it is hazardous when ingested (assumedly in very concentrated amounts). But what about in medicine? It IS an additive that the American Academy of Pediatrics has raised concerns about, primarily because of adverse reactions that range from eczema to lactic acidosis especially when administered in large quantities. But the Center for the Science in the Public Interest doesn’t mention it in their food additive list, either as safe or one to avoid and they are usually all over this stuff. Hmmmm.

And then, just for that final insult to injury, throw in some high-fructose corn syrup and lots of other sugars, including sorbitol.

I decided to head to the pharmacy to see if it was possible to buy my pain reliever without all the yucky stuff. The poor pharmacy tech had no idea what hit him although I’m confident he is now way more familiar with inactive ingredient lists.

I did find a “dye-free” version of acetaminophen which gets out the artificial colors, but everything else is still there. I also found a few homepathic remedies, but realized I’m not ready to part with an active ingredient that I know works. What I want is Tylenol or Motrin Free & Clear. But it doesn’t exist. So what’s a healthy green mom to do?

Fortunately, our friend Alexandra Zissu had addressed this question before in her “Ask an Organic Mom” blog on the Daily Green and I liked her advice. It felt very Practically Green:

It depends on your child, but in my experience, infants “need” Tylenol very infrequently. I haven’t found a child’s liquid pain reliever/fever reducer that didn’t contain a whole host of ingredients I would prefer to avoid. Someone should make one, surely there is a market. If there’s an ailment, I first suggest trying natural remedies, home remedies, or even homeopathic remedies (if you know and understand what they are, and are being advised by a trustworthy person). Talk to your pediatrician about what alternative remedies might be available. Nothing works better than honey to soothe a cough, for example, but it can’t be given to children under 1…If and when these don’t work, I do go to Tylenol or Motrin. Whatever you choose to give your baby, pay very careful attention to dosage guidelines and follow them.

So for now, we’ve settled on dye-free and even more prudent use of the stuff. But if anyone from Johnson & Johnson/McNeil Consumer Products is listening, you can do better and our kids deserve it. So when you finally do launch a Free & Clear version of your products, I want to be first in line.

Find Out More:

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of

Healthy Child Healthy World.

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Posted by Beth on 12/09/2011 at 06:18 PM

Our toddler is highly sensitive to dyes and many of the other ingredients mentioned above. For run-of-the-mill fevers and such, our doctor wrote us a prescription for powdered dye-free ibuprofen, which is dispensed in 100mg capsules and must be filled by a “compounding pharmacy.” (In other words, your friendly neighborhood Walgreen’s will probably NOT be able to fulfill this order for you.) We also did the same with amoxicillin once. If you have an understanding physician and a good pharmacy nearby, you should be able to do the same.

To administer, we empty a capsule into a small amount of applesauce (or jelly, or whatever) and down it goes.

Posted by JPJ on 06/23/2011 at 02:27 PM

My daughter was recently got a terrible infection and had to be on antibiotics. I was given antibiotics to give to her and was disgusted at the ingredients! Artificial flavors, SACCHARIN, all sorts of nasties in there for NO REASON! It doesn’t make her like it any better I can tell you. I was told there were no options without these additives. Very sad when as parents we have to give antibiotics for legit reasons and end up having to give them a bunch of toxic crud in order to do it. I was devastated to have to give her antibiotics to begin with and this just added to the anxiety.

Posted by Stephanie on 06/22/2011 at 08:31 PM

Thank goodness for Natural Remedies!

Posted by Sara on 06/01/2011 at 08:56 AM

Dear Susan Hunt Stevens -

Thank you thank you thank you for this article - I have been giving my baby vitamins at the recommendation of my pediatrician (and most of what I’ve read), but noticed many of these ingredients in them. And I give them to her DAILY. I searched high and low for on information on them, but couldn’t find anything. I kind of gave up and have continued giving them to her, then I found this article just now! I wonder what your thoughts on the vitamins are? I give her Trivisol and D-visol, depending on what’s available at that store (I noticed they seem to have fewer chemicals than a generic brand I bought). I would love to hear more on this! I know lack of vitamin D is an issue, and we live in a cold climate (it’s still snowing here) so she doesnt’ get out much. What’s worse - low vitamin D or ingesting these chemicals?

Posted by Chibi Oka-san on 03/11/2011 at 04:00 PM

Complete bull! I’ve looked at the ingredenting in my sons infant tylonal and NONE of that is in there and I’m not organic or anything like that. It’s a store brand from the dollar general so explain that people.

Posted by Organic Baby University on 02/06/2011 at 08:50 PM

Wow! I had only thought about the drugs in the drugs! I haven’t taken anything in so long I have not looked since I have cleaned up my life and tried to eliminate all the chemicals. However, I would have looked at some point and I have to say I am not surprised. It’s not like pharmaceutical companies care about that stuff! Sad though…I guess we will keep up our sunshine for vitamin D and cross our fingers we don’t get sick much !

Posted by x on 01/26/2011 at 01:20 PM

As long as you don’t give your kid Tylenol by the gallon, I think that you shouldn’t worry too much about it. Not saying that what’s in it is good and safe, but it’s really nothing compared to what’s in our food these days.

Regarding parabens, I do recall reading somewhere that when they are ingested, the metabolic process breaks them down and renders them less potent, so once again, I wouldn’t be too worried. And the amount of paraben in one pill is dwarfed in comparison to the amounts one would find in cosmetics, for example.

That said, I have noticed that color-free acetaminophen is more and more common on Canadian pharmacy shelves.

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