[jetanoia]

Agreed with your post – except on the “Kids pajamas” – they should probably be reclassified under the “Anything which goes in or on my body” list you made.

Whether it’s undisclosed flame retardants, toxic dyes, or other harmful substances, kids bodies are generally more susceptible to harm via environmental pollutants. Such harms may not be at all obvious in the short term, but could still be very harmful over the long-term.

I wish I knew of a vastly superior option (ie, safer option) for buying kids or baby clothes. (Anyone have suggestions on this?)

That said, I believe Amazon is probably at the riskier end of this spectrum vs.traditional stores because of their distributor-centric structure.

Basically, if a harmful product were to receive any negative press, it would more easily be equated with a single company/seller from another country, and probably one with an odd-sounding name.

With a more traditional brick and mortar store, the product may be sourced from the exact same producer, but the reputation hit will be greater to the brick and mortar store, because the customer tends to equate the product more closely with the the store itself. Often, they present themselves to the public as the “seller” of the product whereas Amazon will more give the presentation of “distributor” on behalf of “(_insert_generic_inscrutably-named_foreign_corporation_name)”. Fly-by-night seems an apt description for these companies most the time.

This seemingly reduced level of accountability is the biggest problem I have with trusting them but it’s not the only one; it’s just compounded by the often fraudulent reviews, their practice of taking down authentic but critical reviews, and of selling counterfeits – even occasionally when one orders via a “Prime” option, or fulfilled by Amazon, or seemingly buys an item directly via the manufacturer’s Amazon ‘store’.

Of course there are many other issues as well but these are a few that have created headaches for me in the past to the point that I now avoid them for most purchases.

[rsync]

"I wish I knew of a vastly superior option (ie, safer option) for buying kids or baby clothes."

Just buy the long underwear and "base layer" items from either REI or Patagonia.

Very versatile and utilitarian, last forever, and you can buy them directly from the source - either online or at an actual retail store.

We had patagonia base layer onesies and long underwear, etc., that were handed down across three children.

[blagie]

Can you name any specific instance where people were harmed by toxins in clothing? The skin tends to be a pretty good barrier. Creams and cosmetics are often designed to penetrate it, but clothing fits within my risk profile. I come in contact, skin-ways, with all sorts of nastier things day-to-day, even when working on my house.

My concerns around clothing have more to do with durability, comfort, and quality. For example, bad pyjamas can be not very breathable or collect sweat.

That's pretty easy to tell, though.

So that's shady clothing fits in my risk profile.

As a footnote: I'm not implying it should fit into your risk profile; I'd avoid based on hypothetical risks like lead contamination, PFAS, and other hypotheticals if I earned perhaps 50% more than I do today. I'm asking since if there are specific instances (not of contamination but of harm), I might change my risk profile.