Don’t take our word for it. Here’s every fact on this site, with its evidence grade, its caveats, and a link to the source, so you can check us.
We start you on the strong ones: findings that have been replicated or come from one large, well-controlled study. Moderate and weak facts are here too, labeled for what they are. Use “Link to this fact” to share a single card.
What you can do / Animal study
Methyl salicylate (wintergreen oil) is a strong eye irritant in animal tests, causing irritation even at about 1%, and is toxic if swallowed; keep wintergreen oils and rubs away from children's eyes and mouths.
Moderate evidence: Rabbit eye tests (neat and 1.25% in alcohol); oral toxicity from acute rodent data and the well-known methyl salicylate poisoning literature outside this paper.
Source: RIFM Expert Panel / Belsito 2007, Food and Chemical Toxicology Industry-funded Link to this fact
What you can do / Review of other studies
Pediatric dermatologists advise that products for children be mild, slightly acidic, and fragrance-free.
Moderate evidence: Expert recommendation citing reviews (Kuller 2016, Fernandes 2011); the survey itself linked no product to any skin outcome.
Source: Melo 2020, Revista Paulista de Pediatria Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
Do not replace diagnosed treatment for a serious condition with a homeopathic remedy: the indirect harms in the review followed that choice, including deaths of children.
Moderate evidence: Advice drawn from case reports; the review gives no rate of harm.
Source: Posadzki, Alotaibi & Ernst 2012, Int J Clin Pract, International Journal of Clinical Practice Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
OEKO-TEX Standard 100 sorts textiles into four product classes: I babies and children up to 36 months, II direct skin contact, III no direct skin contact, IV decoration. The standard says only that the classes differ in requirements and test methods; the limits themselves are in a separate online table.
Moderate evidence: Class definitions are in the PDF; the strictest-requirements statement for Class I follows OEKO-TEX's web page, and the per-class limits are not in this document.
Source: OEKO-TEX Standard 100 (2026) Industry-funded Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
In its 2006 decision on benzalkonium-chloride-type disinfectants (ADBAC), EPA required the residential humidifier use to be deleted because its modeled 24-hour inhalation margins were 10 for adults and 4 for children against a target of 100.
Moderate evidence: One 2006 agency document using surrogate-based modeling; later EPA status was not checked and the use could have been reinstated or the decision updated.
Source: EPA RED 2006 Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
FDA required this firm to submit risk assessments of US products made from un-validated blends or inadequately tested components, with particular emphasis on infants and children and on lots still within expiry, and placed the firm on Import Alert 66-40 on 3 May 2017.
Moderate evidence: The firm's response and any outcome are not in the letter.
Source: FDA warning letter 320-17-45, 2 Aug 2017 Link to this fact
What you can do / Government agency
In EFSA's exposure model, fine bakery wares were the main source of polysorbate intake in every age group (up to 91-98% in some surveys), followed by soups, desserts, edible ices, emulsified sauces and, for children through the elderly, food supplements (up to 70-88%).
Moderate evidence: Percent contributions from modeled mean exposure per survey; supplements were assessed without brand or form, and supplement use levels ranged to 425,000 mg per kg.
Source: EFSA ANS Panel (2015), full opinion, EFSA Journal Link to this fact
What you can do / Measured in people or real products
In a study of 110 Baltimore children with asthma (86% Black, mostly low-income), children from homes that had used an air freshener or room deodorizer in the past day or two had urine propyl paraben about 3 times higher (ratio 3.03, 95% CI 1.64-5.60) and BPA about 1.9 times higher (1.92, 1.36-2.71) than other children.
Moderate evidence.
Caveats
One city, one urine sample on one day, cross-sectional, no multiple-comparison correction, no product or air content measured, and the BPA and BPS lower confidence limits sit at about 1.0-1.4; the same effect was not tested in a replication cohort.
Source: Fandiño-Del-Rio 2024, Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology Link to this fact
What you can do / Measured in people or real products
Children who ate food from metal cans had about 1.7 times higher urine BPA (1.71, 95% CI 1.20-2.43) and 2.05 times higher BPS (1.18-3.56), and those who drank from plastic bottles had BPA about 1.65 times higher, in 110 Baltimore children with asthma.
Moderate evidence: Not fragrance or personal care; single spot urine and a 1-2 day recall window; consistent with prior NHANES work cited by the authors but not independently replicated here.
Source: Fandiño-Del-Rio 2024, Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology Link to this fact
What you can do / Measured in people or real products
In the Baltimore asthma-children study, lip balm was the only product linked to urine benzophenone-3 (a UV filter), with about 2.4 times higher levels in users (2.39, 95% CI 1.37-4.16); no children reported using makeup and only 2 reported sunscreen.
Moderate evidence: Single cohort; lip balm formulations not identified (sun-protective or not); the study could not check labels.
Source: Fandiño-Del-Rio 2024, Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology Link to this fact
What you can do / Other evidence
In 2022, 30.1% of US children with current ADHD received neither ADHD medication (53.6% did) nor behavioral treatment (44.4% did); the share with no treatment was higher in 2022 than in 2016 (23.0%).
Moderate evidence: Cross-sectional: cannot separate new diagnoses, never-treated and stopped treatment; treatment items are broad; 2022 medication shortages may play a part.
Source: Danielson 2024 (NSCH 2022), Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology Link to this fact
Information, not medical advice. See also: myths we won’t tell you.