NEWS FEBRUARY 27, 2008

Lavera CEO Backs Calls for Reduced Exposure of Babies to Phthalates

KIRKLAND, WASHINGTON -- One of the world's leading organic health and beauty product companies, Lavera, today backed calls to raise awareness about phthalates in skin care products, following a major U.S. study on 163 babies and toddlers in the Pacific Northwest.

It was carried out by researchers at the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute, and was published in this month’s issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Lavera North American Division CEO, Ulrike Jacob-Dewor, a biochemist, said, “One of the cornerstones of our business is producing safe baby and toddler skin care products that are totally free of potentially harmful compounds. Lavera has been an advocate for 20 years to keep phthalates out of personal care products. This is an important study and regulatory bodies should take heed.”

“Europe bans phthalates in personal care products, taking a ‘better safe than sorry’ approach. This is a very important study, and yet another building block in efforts to have them banned.”

The study's lead author, Sheela Sathyanarayana, an acting assistant professor of pediatrics, said, "We found that infant exposure to phthalates is widespread, and that exposure to personal care products applied onto the skin may be an important source.”

ALTERED HORMONES
"This is troubling, because phthalate exposure in early childhood has been associated with altered hormone concentrations as well as increased allergies, runny nose, and eczema. Babies may be more at risk than children or adults because their reproductive, endocrine, and immune systems are still developing."

The study recommended that parents, who want to decrease their baby's exposure to phthalates, should limit the amount of baby care products used on the infant, and apply lotions or powders only if medically indicated.

Babies recently treated with infant personal care products such as lotion, shampoo, and powder, were more likely to have manmade chemicals called phthalates in their urine than other babies.

Animal-based studies of phthalates have found that the synthetic chemicals can harm reproductive system development, and studies in humans have found that prenatal exposure or exposure through breast milk can alter hormone concentrations.

Researchers found that the use of baby powder, lotion, and shampoo were each strongly associated with higher phthalate levels in the urine. Babies, who were 8 months old or younger, had stronger associations between product use and phthalate concentrations, as did babies whose mothers used more infant personal care products.

Jacob-Dewor added “Moms can have total confidence in Lavera toddler and baby skincare products as we adhere to the very highest European organic and natural content standards.  Not only that, we have a line of baby products specifically for babies which have highly sensitive skin.”

“We have developed Lavera Baby and Kinder Neutral with special care to ensure the well-being of babies and children with allergic and extremely sensitive skin. All products are perfume-neutral and manufactured with ingredients that work as anti-irritants for chafed skin. Because the formulas are also free from flower and herbal extracts and essential oils, they are also recommended for use during homeopathic treatment.”

ABOUT LAVERA
Since its founding 20 years ago, the Lavera brand (http://www.lavera.com) has grown to include more than 300 natural and organic skin care products. Lavera health and beauty products are currently sold in more than 12,000 locations in 25 different countries. Lavera is the market leader in Europe for natural skin care with a 27% of the market share in general health and beauty products and a 50% market share in sunscreen products. The North American Division was formed in the late 1990s and is headquartered in Kirkland, Washington.

Contact the North American Division by phone at 877-528-3727 ext 6 or, visit Lavera’s site at www.lavera.com. The entire line of sale items can be viewed in the online newsletter. For product samples, please email press@lavera.com