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As I reported last week, lots of parents are reporting rashes on their childrens' necks and backs after wearing clothing with tagless labels from Carter's clothes. I read an interview with the CEO of Carter's on Z Recommends this week that sheds more light on the issue. Since many clothing makers are in the process of reformulating their labels to be in compliance with a new ban on phthalates, it seems that the old labels may have contained PVC on the labels, which can contain phthalates. When administered at high doses to animals, PVC with phthalates caused increased cancer rates and damage to the liver, kidneys and other organs. The ingredients are not disclosed because they are "trade secrets", so this is an assumption. But the new labels will be labeled as PVC and phthalate free, so one would think that the old one would be likely to contain these chemicals. Trade secrets are to protect the company, but who is protecting our kids from these chemicals?

This weekend we took the girls swimming, and in the water I could see patches of my youngest daughter's eczema. I've written about this here, and it is hard to determine the source. It just seems to pop up in the colder months, mostly on her legs and lower back. But I noticed a big patch of it right on her neck where the tag hits it. I hadn't seen one there before, but this was prominent and very red. I've been treating it with hydrocortisone cream, but it hasn't gone away yet.

So, off goes all the Carter's tagless clothes back to the company for a refund. If you have any items you feel are causing a rash or discomfort in your baby, you can do so as well. The CPSC has issues an advisory about the issue. And Carter's is sending out prepaid shipping envelopes to people who want to return items for a refund.

Here is an excerpt from Z Recommends about how to get a refund, what to expect, and what to do if you have any trouble. Thanks for this information, Z Recs!

"Have Carter's items you'd like to return?

The company's refund program is open to parents with Carter's infant clothing from any season, new or used. Call Carter's at 1-888-282-4674 and they will send you postage-paid packaging based on the number of items you have to return.

Casey estimated that customers who could provide receipts could get a refund within a week. "Then, it's a very simple process," he said, "but nobody keeps receipts for a year." Without a receipt, company representatives had to look up the specific items to "research what the highest price paid for the garments was," which he described as a still-straightforward process but one requiring more time. He stated that returns "should be" processed within two weeks without a receipt. (Our presumption is that this means two weeks from the point when the company has received the garments from the customer, leading up to the mailing of a check; factor in the shipping cycles and I suspect you're looking at a total time of about a month to get your reimbursement.

We also encourage consumers who have experienced problems to continue reporting these cases to the CPSC so the agency can have the best possible understanding of the scope of the issue. They can be reached at 800-638-2772 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

Additionally, if you receive a reimbursement that is not as much as you expected or believe you are owed (as some readers have reported in comments on this blog), we encourage you to call the company back to ask them to address it. If the customer service department can't satisfy you, Michael Casey expressed an interest in our interview in having calls escalated to his office if necessary to ensure any problems are resolved."

I'll post my results here, and in the meantime, feel free to post with any questions you might have and I will try to help.