The New York Times / Alexandra Zissu
WENONAH MADISON-SAUER, 36, co-owner of a farm and take-out restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard, tries to be eco-conscious about not just food but also cosmetics. For her firstborn son, Waylon, she used biodynamic calendula-based products anointed by NaTrue, an international third-party certifier of natural and organic skincare and cosmetics. But her second, Amos, now 2 1/2, is gooped up with Hydrolatum, a creamy petroleum-derived, non-organic cream that comes in a large plastic tub. Amos has food allergies, which have resulted in atopic dermatitis and eczema. Much of what he is allergic to (tree nuts, peanuts, seeds and coconut) is found — in oil form as emollients — in organic products.
“I didn’t want to use Hydrolatum,” Ms. Madison-Sauer said, but “it’s the only thing that locks in moisture and protects him against certain things touching his skin. It seals him.”
While most skincare and hair care is filled with potential allergy triggers, it turns out that organic versions are, to green parents’ dismay, among the worst offenders. “Generally the more expensive organic products have more allergens; they’re in their purest form,” said Lisa Borden, 39, a Toronto-based mother whose 8-year-old daughter is allergic to peanuts, nuts and kiwi. Dr. Hauschka, one popular certified natural line celebrated for its purity, is chockablock with potential irritants: its products contain organic almond, sunflower, peanut, macadamia and argan oils.
This could be worrisome (however needlessly) in a lip balm. “Allergy from ingested tree nuts is a Type I anaphylaxis-type allergy, which can be life threatening,” said Dr. Maryann Mikhail, an attending dermatologist at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. More common is a Type IV, contact allergy — not “life-threatening,” Dr. Mikhail said, though it can cause “horrible eczema.”
