Once More With Formaldehyde and Victoria’s Secret
On more than one occasion, Formaldehyde Facts has been forced to do some hard work debunking a story concerning Victoria's Secret bras and formaldehyde. The problem: time and time again, despite the fact that we've shared information with the media pointing out the flaws and contradictions of a story that's been flying around the Web for better than a year, reporters, editors and producers find the story too tempting to resist. Too bad it simply isn't true.
The latest example comes from CNN, which posted an "Expert Q&A," written by Dr. Jennifer Shu, a pediatrician with the Children's Medical Group. When asked a question concerning formaldehyde in textiles, Dr. Shu wrote: "Formaldehyde is one example of a chemical used on some clothing to prevent the growth of certain bacteria. This preservative has been reported to cause allergic reactions on the skin, especially in areas of friction or sweating (such as rashes found in women wearing bras treated with formaldehyde)."
Yesterday, I tried to leave a comment on the page with a link to the information we've compiled on the story, but for some reason it didn't appear. Then again, I'm not exactly shocked, as we've seen in the past how news programs like Good Morning America seem more or less immune to the facts we present them on the case. For ore on the use of formaldehyde in textiles, click here.